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THE  CASE  OF  RUSSIA 


THE 

CASE  OF  RUSSIA 

A  COMPOSITE  VIEW 


BY 

Alfred  Rambatidt  Vladimir  G*  Simkovitch 

J.  Novicowt  Peter  Roberts,  and 

Isaac  A.  Hourwich 


NEW  YORK 

FOX,  DUFFIELD  &  COMPANY 

1905 


Copyright,  1900,  by 
FREDERICK  A.   RICHARDSON 

Copyright,  1905,  by 
FOX,  DUFFIELD  &  COMPANY 

PubliBhed  April,  1905 


DK 


CONTENTS 


FAOE 

I.  THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA.  ...  1 
The  Expansion  of  Russia  in  Europe  .  25 
The  Southward  Expansion  of  Russia 

IN  Asia 57 

Further  Conquests 68 

The  Expansion  of  Russia  in  the  Far 

East 90 

COREA 102 

China 108 

The  Means  and  Methods  op  Russian 

Expansion 116 

By  Alfred  Rambaud,  Senator  of  France,  Member  of  the 
Institute,  etc.;  author  of  "The  History  of  Russia," 
which  was  crowned  by  the  French  Academy,  and  which 
the  great  Russian  writer,  TurgeniefE,  declared  "  supe- 
rior to  any  other  history  accessible  to  Western  Europe." 

II.   THE    RUSSIAN    PEOPLE.       A    Psycho- 
logical Study 137 

By  J.  Novicow,  of  Odessa,  Russia,  author  of  "The 
Conflicts  of  Human  Societies  and  their  Successive 
Phases,"  "International  Politics,"  "  Protectionism"  (in 
French),  etc. 

V 


1225108 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

III.    RUSSIAN   AUTOCRACY.    An  Interpre-  ^ 

TATION 255 

By  Yladihib  Q.  SiuEoyiTCH,  lecturer  on  RusBian  His- 
tory in  Columbia  University ;  bom  in  Russia  and  edu- 
cated in  Russian  and  (k'rnian  universities  ;  autlior  of 
"  Die  Feldgemeinschaft  in  Russland,"  etc. 

IV.    THE    SLAVS 293 

By  Rev.  Peter  Roberts,  Ph.D.,  Yale  University,  author 
of  "The  Anthracite  Coal  Industry,"  "The  Anthra- 
cite Coal  Communities " ;  an  important  witness  for 
the  miners  in  the  strike  commission  of  1902. 

V.    RELIGIOUS  SECTS   IN   RUSSIA  .     .     .  ,S89 

By  Isaac  A.  IIoORwicn,  Ph.D.,  Columbia  University, 
Instructor  in  Statistics  and  Lecturer  on  Comparative 
Commercial  Law  at  Columbia  University;  born  in 
Wilno.  Lithuania,  Russia;  author  of  "Peasant  Emi- 
gration to  Siberia"  (in  Russian),  "The  Economics  of 
the  RnsBian  Village,"  etc. 


VI 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA. 

The  Origin  of  the  Russian  State  and  Nation — 
The  Tartar-Mongols — Principality  of  Moscow 
— The  Unity  of  Russi/.  —Isolation — The  Aim  op 
Russian  Diplomacy. 

We  fail  to  discover,  however  far  back  we 
go  towards  the  beginnings  of  the  Russian 
State,  any  indication  that  this  was  ever  des- 
tined to  become  a  maritime  power.  In  the 
ninth  century,  the  Slavic  tribes  that  were 
to  form  the  first  political  organization  desig- 
nated by  the  name  Russian, — the  Slavo- 
Russian  tribes, — occupied  a  territory  securely 
shut  in  on  the  west,  by  the  Poles  and  the 
Lithuanians;  on  the  north,  by  the  Finnish 
tribes,  the  Livonians,  the  Tchudis,  and  the 
Ingrians;  on  the  east,  Finnish  tribes  again, 
the  Vesi,  the  Merians,  the  Muromians,  and 
two  Turkish  tribes,  the  Meshtcheraks  and 
the  Khazars,  that  occupied  all  the  northern 
1 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 

coast  of  the  Black  Sea;  allowing  but  a  single 
one  of  the  Slavo-Russian  peoples  to  hold  a 
position  upon  its  shores.  Except  at  this 
point,  these  Slavo-Russian  tribes  nowhere 
had  access  to  the  coast.  The  shores  of  the 
White  Sea  and  the  Arctic  Ocean  were  Fin- 
nish; those  of  the  Baltic,  Finnish  or  Scan- 
dinavian; those  of  the  Black  Sea  were  held 
by  the  Khazars,  the  Caucasian  tribes,  the 
Byzantine  Empire,  and  the  Bulgarians,  a 
Finnish  tribe  that  had  imposed  its  name  and 
sovereignty  upon  a  certain  number  of  Slavic 
tribes. 

In  the  East  and  North,  the  Slavs  were  not 
to  be  found  even  in  those  regions  where 
afterwards  rose  the  Russian  capitals,  Mos- 
cow and  St.  Petersburg.  B(>yonil  began  those 
imnionse  spaces  (hat  stretch  away  into  the 
dcpth-s  of  Central  Asia,  and  even  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  spaces  peopled  with  I'iiuii.sli  and 
Turkish  tribes,  ami  otlu-r  bninchcs  of  the 
Uralo-Altaic  family.     Then,  still  further  east, 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 

were    to    be    found    certain    peoples   of    the 
yellow  race. 

To  speak  now  only  of  the  Russia  of  Europe, 
how  did  the  Slavo-Russians,  who  in  the  ninth 
century  held  scarcely  a  fifth  part  of  their 
present  territory,  succeed  in  securing  pos- 
session of  it  all?  A  two-fold  change  came 
about  during  the  centuries.  On  the  one 
hand,  the  Slavo-Russians,  very  venturesome  in 
disposition,  following,  at  first,  the  course 
of  the  rivers  and  their  tributaries,  spread 
out  over  the  vast  plains  that  stretch  away  to 
the  Ural  Mountains;  founding  everywhere 
cities,  villages,  and  markets  right  in  the  midst 
of  the  territory  of  the  aboriginal  tribes.  On 
the  other  hand,  they  absorbed  the  greater 
part  of  those  tribes,  and  imposed  upon  them 
their  language,  religion,  and  even  their  man- 
ners and  customs.  A  double  colonization, 
therefore,  took  place,  a  colonization  of  the  soil 
and  a  colonization  of  the  native.  The  ancient 
Uralo- Altaic  tribes,  subjugated  or  absorbed 
8 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 

by  the  Russians,  has  disappeared  from  the 
map  of  the  empire.  There  persist  still  only- 
some  scattered  remnants  of  them,  siurounded 
by  men  of  Russian  race  and  speech,  and 
destined  soon  to  disappear.  These  aborigines 
are  to  be  found  in  fairly  compact  groups  only 
in  those  places  where  the  severity  of  the  climate, 
the  barren  character  of  the  soil,  the  thick- 
ness of  the  forest,  and  the  desert  steppes 
check  Russian  civilization,  an  ethnographical 
medley,  moreover,  occupying  only  a  very  small 
and  indifferently  valuable  part  of  the  Euro- 
pean Russia  of  to-day.' 

Thus  the  primitive  tribes  of  the  Slavo- 
Russians  formed  an  agglomeration  which  was 
everywhere  wcll-iii^^li  entirely  shut  off  from 
any  soa.  This  had  a  character  essentially 
continental,     ihi-  j)opulation  was  wholly  agri- 

(')  Thus  the  Suomi.  tho  Karelia  and  the  Laplanders 
in  Fiidand;  tlic  Zyriuns  and  the  rcruiians,  in  tho 
nortlx-ast;  the  Tcheremisa,  the  Mordva,  tlio  Votiaki, 
tli<-  MrshtclHT.'iks,  (irid  Uw  H.-ishkirs  on  ihr  river  Volga, 
or  between  the  Volga  and  the  Ural  Mouutaias  aud  river. 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 

cultural  in  character,  and,  except  as  fleets 
of  light  boats  descended  the  Dnieper  in  the 
tenth  century  to  harass  Constantinople  and 
to  commit  piracy  on  the  Byzantine  shores 
of  the  Black  Sea,  there  was  nothing  to  indi- 
cate that  it  would  one  day  come  forth  as  a 
maritime  power. 

The  Russia  of  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth 
centuries  was  scarcely  European.  She  was 
bound  to  Europe  only  by  her  form  of  relig- 
ion, and  even  that,  borrowed  from  Byzantine, 
was  an  Oriental,  an  almost  Asiatic  form  of 
Christianity.  When  there  came  about  in  the 
eleventh  century  the  rupture  between  the 
Latin  and  Catholic  Church  of  the  West, 
and  the  Greek  and  Orthodox  Church  of 
the  East,  a  still  higher  barrier  was  raised 
between  the  two  parts  of  Europe.  To  the 
Western  Christians,  the  Greeks  and  the  peo- 
ples that  they  had  evangelized,  the  Bulgar- 
ians, the  Servians,  the  Moldavo-Wallachians, 
and  the  Russians,  were  only  schismatics. 
5 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 

Now,  while  the  Catholic  peoples  of  the  West, 
thanks  to  more  favorable  historical  circum- 
stances, began  to  take  shape  as  powerful 
nations  in  which  an  already  well-advanced 
civilization  went  on  developing,  the  schismatic 
peoples  of  Eastern  Europe,  assailed  by  suc- 
cessive invasions,  from  Asia,  and  after  having 
long  served  as  a  living  bulwark  against  bar- 
barism for  ungrateful  Europe,  were  checked 
in  their  historic  evolution,  and  fell  one  after 
the  other  into  servitude  to  pagan  Mongols 
or  Mohammedan  Turks. 

The  country  where  the  Slavo-Russians  first 
established  themselves  was  only  a  prolonga- 
tion of  the  great  plains  which,  scarcely  broken 
by  the  Ural  Mountains,  extend  to  Behring's 
Sea,  Okhotsk  Sea,  and  the  Sea  of  Japan. 
Geographically,  topographically,  this  i)riiii- 
itive  Russia  was  already  Asiatic.  Just  as  the 
winds  from  Asia  swept  unhindered  all  this 
immense  plain,  so  could  the  migration  of 
peoples  and  invading  expeditions,  at  times 
6 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 

originating  near  the  Great  Wall  of  China, 
pour  unchecked  over  the  Russian  plains  as 
far  as  the  Carpathian  Mountains  and  the 
Vistula. 

One  of  those  revolutions,  so  frequent  among 
the  nomadic  tribes  of  Asia,  brought  together 
from  1154  to  1227  under  the  blue  banner  of 
Temuchin,  called  Jenghis  Khan,  numerous 
tribes  of  shepherds  and  mounted  nomads. 
They  adopted  as  their  collective  name  that 
of  the  Tartar-Mongols.  At  their  head  ''the 
Inflexible  Emperor,"  "the  Son  of  Heaven,'' 
conquered  Manchuria,  the  kingdom  of  Tan- 
gut,  North  China,  Turkestan,  and  Great 
Bokhara,  and  founded  an  empire  which 
extended  from  the  Pacific  to  the  Ural  Mountains. 
Under  the  successors  of  Jenghis  Khan,  these 
mounted  hordes,  maddened  by  the  fury  of 
war  and  conquest,  crossed  into  Europe,  fell 
upon  Russia,  then  divided  into  numerous 
principalities,  carried  the  capital  cities  by 
assault,  annihilated,  one  after  the  other,  the 
7 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 

armies  of  foot  and  horse  sent  against  them, 
and  in  1240  converted  all  Russia  into  a  mere 
province  of  the  Mongol  Empire.  The  Russian 
princes  and  the  chieftains  of  the  Finnish  tribes 
became  vassals  of  the  Great  Khan,'  who  held 
his  court  on  the  banks  of  the  Onon,  an  affluent 
of  the  Amur,  or  at  Karakorum  on  the  Orkhon, 
a  stream  emptying  into  Lake  Baikal.  They 
were  also  more  directly  the  vassals  of  one  of 
his  vassals,  the  Khan  of  the  Golden  Horde, 
who  was  stationed  at  Sarai  on  the  lower  Volga. 
At  this  period  the  Tartar-Mongols,  among 
whom  Mohammedanism  was  disseminated 
until  about  1272,  were  still  Buddhists,  Sham- 
anists,  or  fetich  worshippers;  at  heart  very 
indifferent  in  matters  of  religion,  and  strangers 
to  any  thought  of  propagandism  or  of  intoler- 
ance. They,  therefore,  left  the  Russians  in 
undisturbed  possession  of  their  religion,  their 

(')  Consult  Howorth,  History  of  the  Mongols,  London 
1876.  Wolff,  Geschichte  der  Mongolen,  Breslau,  1872. 
L6on  Cahun,  Introduction  d  I'histoire  de  I'Asie,  Paris, 
1896. 

8 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 

laws,  and  their  own  princely  dynasties.  They 
merely  exacted  tribute,  and,  in  certain  contin- 
gencies, military  service;  and  every  new  Russian 
prince  must  go  to  receive  his  investiture  either 
at  Sarai,  or  even  by  a  journey  that  would 
occupy  years,  at  the  court  of  the  Great  Khan. 
There  they  were  compelled  to  prostrate  them- 
selves at  the  foot  of  his  throne,  to  defend  them- 
selves against  the  accusations  of  enemies,  or 
of  their  Russian  rivals;  and  the  Khan  disposed 
of  their  heads  as  of  their  crowns.  Many  Russian 
princes  were  executed  before  his  eyes.  Some 
among  these,  the  Russian  Church  honors  as 
martyrs. 

Among  the  Russian  princes  who  went  there 
to  prostrate  themselves  before  the  Horde  were 
those  who  had  founded  round  about  a  little 
market-town,  the  name  of  which  is  met  with 
for  the  first  time  in  1147,  a  new  principality, 
that  of  Moscow,  one  of  the  most  insignificant 
of  the  Russian  states  of  that  period.  It  was 
established  in  the  midst  of  a  Finnish  country, 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 

among  the  Muromians.  It  formed,  therefore, 
a.  colony  of  primitive  Russia.  The  princes 
of  Moscow  knew  how  to  turn  to  their  own 
advantage  the  Mongol  yoke  that  weighed  on 
all  Russia.  They  were  more  adroit  than  the 
others  in  flattering  the  common  master  and 
the  agents  that  represented  him  in  Russia. 
One  of  them,  George  (1303-1325),  even  married 
a  Tartar  princess.  In  their  struggles  against 
other  Russian  princes,  they  alway  carried  the 
controversy  to  the  court  of  the  Khan,  who 
almost  always  decided  in  their  favor,  and  sent 
them  away  with  the  heads  of  their  rivals.  They 
secured  from  the  Khan  the  privilege  of  collecting 
the  tribute,  not  only  from  their  own  subjects, 
but  from  the  other  princes  of  Russia.  This 
function  as  tribute  collector  for  the  Khan 
raised  them  above  all  their  equals;  and  the 
more  humble  vassals  of  the  biirbarians  they 
showed  themselves  to  be,  11h>  better  did  they 
establish  their  suzerainty  over  the  other  Chris- 
tian states.  They  succeeded  thus  in  building 
10 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 

up  a  powerful  state,  which  was  called  the  "Great 
Principality"  of  Moscow.  When  they  felt 
themselves  to  be  strong  enough,  and  perceived 
that  the  Mongol  Empire  had  grown  sufficiently 
weak  through  internal  dissension  and  divisions 
to  warrant  the  attempt,  they  turned  against 
the  barbarians  the  power  that  they  owed  to 
them.  In  1380,  the  Grand  Prince  Dmitri, 
having  refused  payment  of  tribute,  defeated 
Mamai,  the  Khan  of  the  Golden  Horde,  at 
Kulikovo  on  the  Don.  But  the  Mongols  were 
not  yet  as  weak  as  Dmitri  Donskoi  (hero  of 
the  Don)  had  thought.  Tamerlane,  or  Timur- 
Leng,  had  just  conquered  Turkestan,  Persia 
Asia  Minor,  and  North  Hindustan.  One  of 
his  lieutenants,  Tokhtamysh,  having  vainly 
summoned  the  Grand  Prince,  Dmitri,  to  appear 
before  him,  marched  against  Moscow,  captured 
the  city  and  its  Kremlin,  sacked  the  other 
cities  of  the  principality,  and  everywhere 
reestablished  Asiatic  supremacy.  Nevertheless, 
the  Mongol  yoke  was  not  to  survive  long  the 
11 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 

heroic  effort  made  at  Kulikovo.  The  great 
barbarian  empires  founded  by  Asiatic  conquerors 
quickly  fall  to  pieces.  This  historical  law 
was  verified  in  the  Empire  of  Tamerlane,  as 
in  that  of  Jenghis  Khan.  Towards  the  end 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  the  Mongol  Empire 
of  Asia  was  divided  in  the  Mongol  Empire 
of  China,  the  Mongol  Empire  of  India,  the 
Mongol  Kingdom  of  Persia,  and  a  large  number 
of  khanates  in  Turkestan  and  Siberia;  and  all 
those  states  were  scarcely  any  longer  Mongol 
save  in  name.  In  Russia  itself,  the  Golden 
Horde  was  broken  up.  From  its  debris  were 
formed  the  czarate  of  Kazan  on  the  middle 
Volga,  the  khanate,  or  czarate,  of  Sarai,  or 
Astrakhan,  on  the  lower  Volga,  the  hord(>  of 
the  Nogais,  and  the  khanate  of  the  Crimea. 
In  1476,  Akhmed,  the  Khan  of  Sarai,  sent  a 
demand  for  tribute  to  the  Grand  Prince  of 
Moscow,  Ivan  the  Groat.  Ivan  |)ut  the  ainlmss- 
adors  to  death.  Four  years  later,  the  Khan 
Akhmed  marched  upon  Moscow  with  a  large 
12 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 

army.  Near  the  rivers  Oka  and  Ugra  he  met 
the  army  of  Ivan  the  Great;  but  neither  of 
the  adversaries  dared  force  the  passage  of 
the  two  rivers.  They  remained  there  several 
days  exchanging  insults  and  darts  from  the 
opposite  shores.  Then  a  panic  simultaneously 
arose  in  both  armies;  the  one  fleeing  in  the 
direction  of  Moscow,  the  other  in  the  direction 
of  Sarai.  It  was  in  this  bloodless,  inglorious  way 
that  the  Mongol  power  in  Russia  came  to  an  end. 
The  Mongol  yoke  had  continued  two  hundred 
and  fifty-six  years  (1224-1480).  It  left  in 
Russia  traces  that  were  for  a  long  time  inefface- 
able. Before  the  Tartar  conquest,  the  power 
of  a  Russian  prince  was  founded  upon  Euro- 
pean origins.  It  recalled  the  patriarchal  author- 
ity of  the  old-time  chieftains  of  the  Slavo- 
Russian  tribes;  the  martial  authority  of  the 
heads  of  the  Scandinavian  or  Variagian  clans, 
like  Rorik  and  other  Variagian  chiefs,  called 
into  Russia,  it  is  said,  by  the  Slavs;  and  the 
authority,  at  once  civil  and  religious,  of  the 
13 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 

Byzantine-Roman  emperors,  whom  the  succes- 
sors of  Rorik,  Hke  all  the  barbarian  chieftains 
of  Eastern  Europe,  hked  to  take  as  models. 
After  the  Tartar  conquest,  on  the  contrary, 
the  Russian  princes,  and  especially  the  Grand 
Princes  of  Moscow,  selected  as  prototypes  of 
their  own  authority  the  Khans  and  Great 
Khans  with  their  autocratic  power, — coarse, 
irresponsible,  Asiatic.  From  that  time  forward, 
they  treated  their  vassals  as  they  themselves 
had  been  treated  by  the  Khans.  Between  the 
Grand  Prince  and  his  vassals,  and  between  these 
and  the  peasants,  the  relations  were  those  of 
brutal  masters  and  trembling  slaves.  The  sover- 
eign of  Moscow  did  not  differ  from  a  Mongol 
Khan,  from  a  Persian  Shah,  or  from  an  Osmanli 
Sultan,  save  as  he  professed  the  orthodox  reli- 
gion. He  was  a  sort  of  a  Christian  Grand  Turk. 
When  the  title  of  Grand  Prince  seemed  to  him 
unworthy  of  his  increased  power,  the  titl(>  (hat 
his  ambition  chose  was  none  of  those  that  the 
Christian  rulers  of  the  West  then  bore;  it  was 
14 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 

the  one  which  the  Khans  of  Siberia,  of  Kazan, 
or  of  Astrakhan  had  arrogated;  it  was  the  title 
of  Czar,  which,  of  course,  has  not  any  etymo- 
logical connection  with  that  of  Caesar,  a  fiction 
invented  very  much  later.  Such  was  the  title 
that  the  heir  of  the  Grand  Princes  of  Moscow, 
Ivan  the  Terrible,  solemnly  took  in  1547. 
Many  other  facts  attest  the  predominance  of 
Asiatic  influences  over  the  Russia  of  the  six- 
teenth century.  The  costumes  of  the  Czar  of 
Moscow  and  of  the  other  great  lords,  the  princes 
and  boyars,  were  Asiatic ;  Asiatic  was  the  servile 
etiquette  of  the  court;  touching  with  the  brow 
the  foot  of  the  throne,  and  the  humble  formulas 
in  which  the  highest  personages  declared  them- 
selves to  be  slaves;  Asiatic  was  the  seclusion  of 
the  women  in  the  terem,  which  was  a  Russian 
harem;'  Asiatic  was  the  equipment  of  the  royal 

(1)  However,  it  is  proper  to  call  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  servile  character  of  the  court  etiquette  may 
also  have  been  borrowed  from  Byzantium,  and  that 
the  Russian  terem  may  have  had  its  original  in  the 
gynsecium  of  the  Greeks. 

15 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 

cavalry  with  their  high  saddles  and  short  stir- 
rups; their  boots  with  the  toe  in  the  form  of  an 
upturned  crescent;  their  armor  reminding  one 
of  the  Chinese  and  Japanese;  their  curved 
swords,  their  bows  and  quivers,  and  their  head- 
dress, which  resembled  a  turban  surmounted  by 
an  aigrette.  All  this  oriental  apparel  was  to 
continue  in  vogue  until  the  time  when  Peter  the 
Great,  with  the  violent  measures  of  an  Asiatic 
despot,  forcibly  introduced  into  Russia  the 
short  clothing  of  the  West,— "German  dress," 
that  is,  European.  With  this  change  in  cos- 
tume, he  also  brought  in  the  fashion  of  shaving 
the  face;  the  holding  of  social  gatherings,  which 
the  recluses  of  the  terem  were  compelled  to 
attend;  the  etiquette  of  the  Christian  courts; 
the  formulary  of  the  German  bureaucracy,  and 
the  uniforms,  equipments,  and  tactics  of  the 
armies  of  the  W(\st 

While   Russia  was  still  groaning  under   the 
Mongol  yoke,   the  Grand  Princes  of  Moscow, 
utilizing   their  servitude;  as  an   instrument  of 
16 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 


power,  caused  the  other  princes  to  bow  before 
the  terror  of  the  Mongol,  and  brought  about 
"the  consoUdation  of  the  Russian  territory," 
that  is  to  say,  they  founded  the  unity  of  Russia. 
When  the  family  line  of  the  Grand  Princes  and 
Czars  of  Moscow  died  out  in  1598,  and  when 
there  began  for  Russia  "those  troublous  times 
{smmitnoit  Vremia),"  which  the  accession  of  the 
Romanofs  brought  to  an  end  in  1613,  the  czar- 
ate  of  Moscow  was  already  a  very  powerful 
state. 

In  the  North  especially,  by  the  annexation  of 
the  territories  of  the  ancient  republics  of  Nov- 
gorod and  Pskof,  the  Muscovite  supremacy  was 
extended  to  the  White  Sea  and  the  Arctic 
Ocean.  On  the  west,  in  a  series  of  wars  against 
the  Lithuanians  and  the  Poles  to  "recover" 
from  them  Russian  territory  which  they  had 
formerly  conquered,  the  Moscow  czarate  had 
carried  its  power  beyond  Pskof  and  Lake  PeVpus, 
and  had  reached  the  Dnieper  at  Kiev  and 
Smolensk.  In  the  South,  it  had  reached 
17 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 


neither  the  Black  Sea  nor  the  Sea  of  Azov, 
from  which  it  was  separated  by  the  Ukraine 
that  still  belonged  to  the  Poles,  by  a  republic 
of  adventurers  and  pirates  called  the  Zaporo- 
vians,  by  the  khanate  of  the  Crimean  Tartars, 
by  the  camping-grounds  of  the  Nogaian  Tar- 
tars, and,  finally,  by  the  maritime  power  of  the 
Ottomans  on  the  Euxine.     Eastward,  Russian 
concjuest    and    colonization    had    made    great 
advances.    The  uniting  of  the  old  territories  of 
Novgorod,  and  the  annexation  of  those  of  the 
republic  of  Viatka,  brought  the  Muscovite  dom- 
ination to  the  Ural  Mountains.     The  conquest 
of  the  czarate  of  Kazan  by  Ivan  the  Terrible, 
in  1552,  gave  him  all  the  region  of  the  middle 
Volga,    and    the    conquest   of    the    czarate    of 
Astrakhan,  two  years  later,  placed  in  his  power 
all  (h(!  lower  Volga  country,  with  a  part  of  the 
coyst  of  the  Caspian  Sea.     Finally,   the  con- 
f|uost  of  the  khanate  of  Sibir,  between  the  years 
1579-15S4,    by    the    Cossack    Irmak,    carried 
the    Russian    eagles    beyond   tlie    Urals,   and 
18 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 


opened     before     them     the      immensities     of 
Siberia. 

But    the    more    extensive    the    Muscovite 
Empire  became,  the  more  it  suffered  from  not 
having  access  to  any  sea  which  was  all  the  year 
free  from  ice,  or  which  would  afford  an  outlet  to 
the  ocean.    The  Harbors  of  the  White  Sea  were 
closed  with  ice  eight  months  of  the  year;  the 
Caspian  Sea  is  only  a  great  lake  without  an  outlet. 
To  reach  the  Baltic  Sea,  it  would  be  necessary  to 
battle  against  the  Germans,  the  Poles,  and  the 
Swedes,  the  masters  of  all  its  shores.     To  gain 
access  to  the  Black  Sea,  there  were,  again,  the 
Poles  to  be  fought,  as  well  as  the  Tartars,  the 
Zaporovians,  and  the  Grand  Turk.     Now,  the 
European  neighbors  of  Russia  were  beginning  to 
fear  this  great  barbarian  empire.     They  were 
convinced  that  it  would  become  truly  a  terror  to 
them  the  day  on  which,  by  obtaining  regular 
communication  with  the  West,  it  could  thereby 
learn  something  of  their  civilization,  their  indus- 
tries, and,  above  all,  their  military  art.    They 
19 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 

understood  that  the  backward  condition  of  its 
civihzation   was   the  only  safeguard  against  its 
ambitions.    They,  therefore,  closed   against   it 
their  eastern  frontiers,  and  barred  it  out  of  the 
Baltic.     At  the  time  when  Ivan  the  Terrible, 
profiting  by  the  decadence  into  which  the  Sword- 
Bearers,  the  religious  military  order  of  the  Livo- 
nians,  had  fallen,  took  their  lands  away  from 
them,  and  raised  his  flag  at  their  port  of  Narva, 
Poles,  Germans,  and  Swedes  united  against  him; 
they  incited  fresh  invasions  of  the  Crimean  Tar- 
tars, conspiracies  and  rebellion  among  his  nobil- 
ity; and,  after  a  bitter  struggle  of  twenty-four 
years,  compelled  him  to  abandon  his  conquest  in 
1582.     So  long  as  Narva  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
Czar,  Sigismund,  King  of  Poland,  did  not  have  a 
moment's    peace.     When    English    merchants 
began  to  resort  there,  he  wrote  threatening  let- 
ters to  Queen  Elizabeth,  summoning  her  to  for- 
bid that  trallic.     "Our  fleet  will  seize  all  those 
who  continue  to  sail  thither;  your  merchants 
will  1)('  in  danger  of  losing  their  liberty,  their 
20 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 

wives  and  children,  and  their  Hves."  And  this 
confession  escaped  him:  "We  see  by  this  new 
traffic  the  Muscovite,  who  is  not  only  our 
enemy  to-day,  but  the  hereditary  enemy  of  all 
free  nations,  furnishing  himself  thoroughly, 
not  only  with  our  guns  and  munitions  of  war, 
but,  above  all,  with  skilled  workmen,  who 
continue  to  prepare  equipments  of  war  for 
him,  such  as  have  been  hitherto  unknown  to 
his  barbaric  people.  *  *  *  It  would  seem 
that  we  have  thus  far  conquered  him  because 
he  is  ignorant  of  the  art  of  war  and  the  finesse 
of  diplomacy.  Now,  if  this  commerce  continues, 
what  will  there  soon  be  left  for  him  to  learn?" 
Thus,  it  was  not  merely  unpropitious  nature 
that  kept  Russia  in  a  condition  of  blockade; 
but  the  jealousy  of  her  neighbors  mounted  a 
most  rigorous  guard  around  these  "barbarians" 
of  the  North.  The  empire  of  Moscow  remained 
condemned,  like  the  agglomeration  of  Slavic 
tribes  of  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries  from 
which  it  had  sprung,  to  a  purely  continental 
21 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 

life.  It  was  shut  up  to  its  vast  northern 
plains  like  the  Swiss  to  his  mountains,  and 
seemed  to  have  as  little  chance  of  ever  becoming 
a  maritime  power. 

Hitherto,  the  Muscovite  Empire  with  its  mili- 
tary organization  wholly  Asiatic,  with  its 
noble-born  knights  and  free  peasants,  with  its 
infantry  militia,  the  streltsy,  with  its  old- 
fashioned  artillery,  with  its  regular  troops  of 
Cossacks,  Tartars,  and  Calmucks,  had  been 
able  to  withstand  victoriously  Asiatic  forces; 
but  it  could  not  maintain  a  struggle  against  the 
regular  troops  and  improved  weapons  of  the 
western  nations.  In  order  to  make  her  mark 
in  Europe,  it  was  necessary  for  Russia  to 
become  European,  but  she  could  not  become 
European  if  I<]uro])e  persisted  in  holding  her 
in  a  condition  of  blockade.  It  was  a  "vicious 
circle";  and  it  was  reserved  for  the  genius  of 
Peter  the  Great  to  succeed  in  breaking  that 
circle. 

Henceforth,  we  see  Russian  diplomacy,  with 
22 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 

tireless  patience,  with  a  shrewdness  equal  to 
its  persistency,  endeavoring  simultaneously  in 
all  directions  to  pierce  the  blockade.  She 
strives  to  secure  access  to  the  Baltic  Sea; 
and  we  shall  have  the  Northern  War  of  Peter 
the  Great,  the  partition  of  Poland  under 
Catherine  II.,  the  Finland  question  under  the 
Czarina  Elizabeth,  and  under  Alexander  I. 
She  strives  to  secure  access  to  the  Black  Sea; 
and  we  shall  have  the  Eastern  Question  in  all 
its  forms,  from  the  first  efforts  of  Peter  the 
Great  down  to  the  war  of  1877-78  of  Alexander 
II.  She  strives  to  make  herself  mistress  of 
the  Caspian  Sea,  and  the  attempt  made  by 
Peter  the  Great  will  reach  an  end  only  under 
Alexander  III.  She  strives  to  secure  access 
to  the  Indian  Ocean,  and  we  shall  have  the 
wars  and  treaties  with  Persia,  Afghanistan, 
and  England.  She  strives  to  secure  access 
to  the  Okhotsk  Sea,  the  Sea  of  Japan,  and  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  and  we  shall  witness  the  work 
of  Siberian  colonization  and  all  the  phases  of 
23 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 

the  Far  Eastern  Question.  The  matter  of 
securing  new  territory  concerns  her  much 
less.  It  has  been  the  supreme  end  of  her 
efforts,  at  times  continued  for  centuries,  to 
reach  a  sea, — a  sea  free  from  ice,  a  sea  opening 
into  the  ocean. 


24 


THE  EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA 
IN  EUROPE. 

Peter  the  Great — Poland — The  Eastern  Question 
— Latin  and  Greek  Churches — Catherine  the 
Great — Turkish  Wars — Greek  Independence — 
Crimean  War — The  Balkan  States — Nihilism — 
Results  or  European  Wars — Nicholas  II. 

We  know  with  what  energy  and  alterna- 
tion of  success  and  failure  Peter  the  Great 
struggled  against  the  Swedish  masters  of  the 
eastern  and  southern  shores  of  the  Baltic. 
We  are  amazed  when  we  reflect  that  a  war, 
lasting  more  than  twenty-one  years;  a  war 
that  convulsed  all  Europe;  that  brought  the 
Swedes  into  the  heart  of  Russia  and  the  Russians 
into  the  centre  of  Germany;  that  brought 
about  the  creation  of  a  Russian  army  and 
navy  under  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  and  that 
numbered  a  score  of  battles  on  land  and  sea, — 
should  have  ended  in  results  apparently  so 
25 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


meagre  as  were  those  gained  by  Russia  in 
1721  at  the  Treaty  of  Nystad;  namely,  the 
acquisition  of  four  small  provinces,  Livonia, 
Esthonia,  Ingria,  and  Karelia.  But  these 
provinces  gave  him  on  the  Baltic  the  ports 
of  Riga,  Revel,  and  Narva;  they  gave  him 
also  the  mouths  of  two  rivers,  the  broad  Neva 
and  the  Diina,  or  Dvina  (not  to  be  confounded 
with  the  other  Dvina  that  empties  into  the 
White  Soa).  It  was  on  the  islets  of  the  Neva 
that  Peter  the  Great  had  founded,  in  1703, 
on  lands  still  disputed  by  the  Swedes  and 
by  the  floods,  the  capital  of  European  Russia, 
St.  Petersburg,  protected  on  the  west  by  the 
maritime  fortress  of  Kronstadt.  Yes,  "the 
Giant  Czar"  considered  himself  amply  repaid 
for  his  efforts  of  twenty-one  years  by  the  fact 
lliat  for  his  vast  continental  empire,  still 
wrapped  in  Asiatic.  (larkiu\ss,  h(>  had  been  able 
"to  ojx'ii  Olio  window  on  Europe." 

This  window  was  still   a  very  narrow  one. 
It  was  somewhat  enlarged  by  Elizabeth,  when, 
26 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


after  a  war  foolishly  undertaken  by  Sweden, 
she  made  that  country,  in  the  Treaty  of  Abo, 
1743,  surrender  some  districts  in  Finland. 
Later,  Alexander  I.,  during  his  short-lived 
alliance  with  Napoleon,  conquered  from  his 
recent  ally,  Gustavus  III.,  all  of  Finland 
(Treaty  of  Fredericksham,  1809).  Russia 
had  now  no  longer  anything  to  seek  in  that 
direction. 

Westward,  between  Russia,  already  power- 
ful and  always  war-like,  and  Prussia,  now 
grown  great  in  glory  and  strength,  lay  an 
extremely  weak  state  made  up  of  the  king- 
dom of  Poland,  the  grand  duchy  of  Lithuania 
and  some  old-time  Russian  districts.  The 
first  three  partitions  of  this  state  (1772,  1793, 
1795),  carried  the  Russian  frontier  to  the 
Niemen,  the  Warthe,  and  the  Dniester. 
Catherine  II.  completed  these  conquests  by 
the  annexation  of  Courland,  which  had  been 
a  vassal  dependency  of  the  fallen  kingdom. 
It  is  to  be  noted,  however,  that  in  what  is 
27 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


called  "the  partition  of  Poland,"  Catherine 
II.  did  not  acquire  any  Polish,  but  merely- 
Lithuanian  territory  that  formerly  had  been 
Russian.  If  Napoleon  I.  had  not  attempted 
to  reestablish  on  the  Russian  frontier  a  Polish 
kingdom  under  the  name  of  "the  grand  duchy 
of  Warsaw,"  perhaps  Russia  would  not  have 
been  ambitious  to  secure  possession  of  any 
former  Polish  territory.  After  the  fall  of 
Napoleon,  the  Czar  Alexander  I.  was  obliged 
to  appropriate  a  considerable  part  of  this  under 
the  name  of  "the  kingdom  of  Poland,"  were 
it  for  no  other  reason  than  to  prevent  an  in- 
crease of  territory  upon  the  part  of  the  two 
German  powers.  Henceforth  the  western 
frontier  of  Russia  was  fixed.  It  has  not  changed 
since  1815,  and,  to  admit  the  possibility  of 
a  change  in  the  future,  it  would  be  necessary 
to  admit  the  possibility  of  a  total  overturning 
of  the  European  balance  of  power. 

Though     Russian     expansion    towards    the 
north  was  stopped  by  the  icy  solitudes  of  Lap- 
28 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


land,  westward  by  the  frontiers  of  states  as 
firmly  established  as  the  German  and  Austro- 
Hungarian  Empires,  yet  for  a  long  time  a 
broad  way  remained  open  to  Russia  in  the 
direction  of  the  south.  The  decadence  of  the 
Ottoman  Empire  seemed  to  offer  her  the  same 
favorable  opportunities  as  did  the  decline  of 
the  Polish-Lithuanian  Empire.  In  this  di- 
rection, acquisition  of  territory  promised  to 
be  infinitely  more  precious.  The  Russians 
could  dream  of  the  Black  Sea,  the  Propontis, 
and  the  ^Egean  Sea  becoming  Russian  lakes; 
of  Christian  peoples  of  the  same  religion  (Rou- 
manians and  Greeks), — and  of  some  of  the 
same  religion  and  race  (Bulgarians,  Servians, 
Croatians,  Bosnians,  Herzegovinians,  and 
Montenegrians), — welcoming  the  armies  of  a 
Liberator  Czar,  and  joyfully  accepting  the 
domination  of  Russia  in  exchange  for  that 
of  the  Ottoman;  and,  finally,  they  could  dream 
of  Constantinople,  the  capital  of  the  Eastern 
Roman  Empire,  freed  from  the  yoke  of  the 
29 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


infidel,  and  of  the  cross  taking  the  place  of 
the  crescent  on  the  dome  of  Saint  Sophia. 
Nevertheless,  it  was,  perhaps,  in  the  direction 
of  the  south,  that  Russia,  in  her  schemes  for 
expansion,  after  some  brilliant  successes,  found 
herself  the  most  completely  deceived. 

For  a  long  time  the  sovereigns  that  sat 
upon  Russia's  throne  at  Moscow,  and  then  at 
St.  Petersburg,  were  infatuated  with  this 
Oriental  mirage.  The  Russian  Orthodox 
Church  urged  them  on  in  this  course  through 
sympathy  with  the  Orthodox  Christians  who 
were  in  subjection  to  the  infidel.  Even  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  at  a  certain  time 
encouraged  them  in  the  ho|3e  that  the  sword 
of  the  Czar  might  accomplish  both  (he  deliv- 
erance of  th(!  Christians  and  Ihc  union  of  lire 
two  churches,  that  is  to  say,  the  subordination 
of  the  Creek  Church  lo  tlu^  Roman.  It  was 
Pope  Paul  III.,  who,  at  the  advice;  of  the  Greek 
cardinal,  Bossarion,  offered  to  the  Grand 
Prince  of  Moscow,  Ivan  the  Great,  tlu;  hand 
30 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


of  his  ward,  Sophia  Palseologus,  the  niece  of 
the  last  Christian  emperor  of  Constantinople. 
It  was  at  Rome  that  the  marriage  took  place, 
and  it  was  the  Pope  who  gave  a  dowry  to  the 
heiress  of  the  Caesars  of  the  East.'  It  is  from 
the  time  of  this  marriage  that  the  double- 
headed  eagle  of  the  Palseologus  took  its  place 
on  the  escutcheons  and  standards  of  the  Rus- 
sian sovereigns.  Paul  III.  was  deceived  in 
both  his  hopes;  for  the  union  of  the  two  churches 
was  never  accepted  at  Moscow,  and  many 
years  passed  before  a  Russian  army  was  able 
to  advance  a  step  southward.  The  second  of 
the  Romanofs,  Alexis,  father  of  Peter  the  Great, 
set  the  first  landmark  southward  in  the  Treaty 
of  Andrussovo  with  Poland,  in  1667,  by  acquir- 
ing a  part  of  the  Ukraine,  extending  as  far  as 
the  upper  course  of  the  Dnieper.  Vast  spaces 
still  separated  the  Russian  and  the  Ottoman 
Empires.     Nevertheless,    in    the    coolest    and 

(>)  Le  R.  Prerling,  La  Russie  et  V orient — mariage  d'un 
tsarau  Vatican,  Paris,  1891;  La  Russie  et  le  saint-siege, 
2  vols.,  Paris,  1896-'97. 


31 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


shrewdest  minds  brooded  the  idea  of  a  holy 
war  against  the  infidel.  Peter  the  Great,  still 
young  and  journeying  in  Western  Europe, 
learning  its  arts  and  himself  wielding  the  car- 
penter's axe  at  Saardam,  wrote,  in  1697,  to 
Adrian,  the  Patriarch  of  Moscow:  "We  are 
laboring  in  order  thoroughly  to  conquer  the 
art  of  the  sea,  so  that  having  completely  learned 
it,  on  our  return  to  Russia,  we  may  be  vic- 
torious over  the  enemies  of  Christ,  and  by 
His  grace  be  the  liberator  of  the  down-trodden 
Christians,  This  is  what  I  shall  never  cease 
to  desire  until  my  latest  breath." 

Upon  his  return  to  Russia,  however,  his 
struggle  with  Sweden  occupied  all  his  attention. 
It  was  only  in  1711,  when  his  enemy,  Charles 
XII.,  a  refugee  in  the  domains  of  the  Grand 
Turk,  earnestly  sought  to  have  the  latter 
take  up  arms  against  Russia,  that  Peter  the 
Great  allowed  himself  to  be  tempted  by  the 
appeal  which  the  hospodars  of  Moldavia  and 
Wallachia,  Montenegrian  envoys,  and  Greek 
32 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


agents  addressed  to  him  in  the  name  of  Chris- 
tians who  were  oppressed  and  ready  to  rise  in 
revolt.  He  found  immense  spaces  to  be  trav- 
ersed; and  crossed  the  Pruth  with  only  thirty- 
eight  thousand  starving  and  harassed  soldiers. 
He  discovered  that  all  the  promises  of  the 
Levantines  were  unwarranted;  he  met  neither 
allies  nor  help;  and  beset  by  two  hundred 
thousand  Turks,  or  Tartars,  he  had  to  consider 
himself  fortunate  to  get  back  again  across 
the  rivers,  after  having  signed  the  Treaty  of 
Falksen,  or  of  the  Pruth,  which  restored  to  the 
Ottomans  his  first  conquest,  the  city  of  Azov. 

The  second  southward  step  of  the  Russians 
was  the  conquest  of  a  bit  of  territory  that  was 
peopled  with  Servian  colonists,  and  that  was 
called  New  Servia.  This  acquisition  was  won 
by  the  Treaty  of  Belgrade  in  1739;  but  it  had 
cost  the  Empress  Anna  Ivanovna  three  years 
of  war  and  useless  victories,  and  nearly  one 
hundred  thousand  men. 

The  third  was  a  gigantic  step.  After  the 
33 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


first  war  against  the  Turks,  Catherine  II. 
found  herself  checked  by  the  intervention  of 
Prussia  and  Austria,  who  compelled  her  to 
renounce  nearly  all  her  eastern  conquests, 
and  to  accept  a  compensation  in  Poland. 
Nevertheless,  by  the  treaty  of  Kairnaji,  in 
1774,  she  had  ceded  to  her  Azov  on  the  Don, 
and  Kinburn  at  the  mouth  of  the  Dnieper. 
She  forced  the  Sultan  to  recognize  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  Tartars  of  the  Bug,  of  the 
Crimea,  and  of  the  Kuban.  This  was  to  pre- 
pare for  their  annexation  to  Russia,  which 
was  successfully  accomplished  and  sanctioned 
by  the  Constantinople  Compact  of  1784.  All 
the  north  shore  of  the  Black  Sea  and  of  the 
Dniester,  as  far  as  the  Kuban  River,  now 
became  Russian.  The  last  Mohammedan 
states  of  Russia  were  converted  into  prov- 
inces of  the  empire,  and  the  last  vestige  of 
"the  Tartar  yoke"  was  effaced  from  Russian 
soil. 

At  once  in  the  Tauric  peninsula  and  at  the 
34 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


mouths  of  the  rivers  arose  formidable  for- 
tresses, Kherson,  Kinburn,  and,  on  a  bay 
of  the  Crimea,  Sevastopol  was  made  ready- 
to  control  the  Black  Sea.  An  entire  Russian 
fleet  was  built  up,  which  could  in  two  days 
cast  anchor  before  the  walls  of  the  Seraglio. 
The  conquest  of  the  Turkish  Empire,  impos- 
sible to  Peter  the  Great,  seemed  to  become 
easy  for  Catherine  the  Great.  In  the  trium- 
phant journey  that  she  next  accomplished 
through  the  conquered  provinces,  her  route 
was  crowded  with  triumphal  arches,  bearing 
this  inscription:  "The  way  to  Byzantium." 
She  herself  provoked  the  second  Turkish 
war  (1787-1792).  The  Russian  armies,  every- 
where victorious,  advanced  to  the  Danube. 
The  janissaries  and  spahis  of  the  Sultan  could 
not  stop  them  in  their  course.  But  again  did 
European  diplomacy  intervene.  Catherine 
II.  had  to  give  up  the  Roumanian  hospodarates, 
which  had  been  entirely  subdued,  and  be  sat- 
isfied with  Otchakov,  and  a  strip  of  territory 
35 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


between  the  Bug  and  the  Dniester,  and  with 
guarantees  more  exphcit  than  those  of  1774 
in  favor  of  the  Roumanian  principahties. 
This  arrangement,  accomphshed  at  the  Treaty 
of  Yassy,  1792,  estabUshed  over  these  prin- 
cipalities a  sort  of  distant  Russian  protectorate. 
Thus,  although  four  Russian  interventions 
had  already  occurred,  not  an  inch  of  Christian 
territory  had  been  wrested  from  the  Sultan, 
and  not  a  Christian  tribe  had  been  delivered 
from  his  yoke. 

The  fifth  intervention  took  place  under 
Alexander  I.  So  long  as  his  alliance,  made 
at  Tilsit  in  1807,  with  Napoleon  continued, 
his  armies  were  victorious.  The  Roumanians 
were  again  conquered  as  far  as  the  Danube, 
Bulgaria,  conquered  as  far  as  the  Balkans, 
and  under  George  the  Black  (Kara-Georges), 
Servia  won  her  independence  with  her  own 
forces  alone.  The  rupture  with  Napoleon 
compelled  the  Czar  to  sign  the  peace  of  Buch- 
arest with  the  Sultan  in  1812.  Of  all  his  con- 
36 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


quests,  he  retained  only  a  bit  of  Roumanian 
territory,  Bessarabia  between  the  Dniester  and 
the  Pruth,— as  also  Ismail  and  Kilia  on  the 
lower  Danube.  The  Roumanians  and  Bul- 
garians fell  again  under  the  Ottoman  yoke, 
and  Servia  was  abandoned  to  herself.  Never- 
theless, an  amnesty  was  stipulated  in  favor 
of  the  Servians,  and  guarantees  were  given  in 
favor  of  the  Roumanians.  In  1827,  Nicholas 
I.,  by  the  Akerman  Agreement,  which  was  an 
explanation  of  the  Treaty  of  Bucharest,  caused 
the  guarantees  accorded  the  Roumanians  to 
be  clearly  defined.  As  for  the  Servians, 
crushed  for  a  time  by  Ottoman  retaliation, 
they  had  taken  up  arms  under  Milosh  Obre- 
novitch,  and,  thanks  to  European  intervention, 
they  obtained,  with  certain  restrictions,  their 
autonomy. 

The   sixth   intervention   of  Russia  occurred 

on  the  occasion  of  the  Greek  revolution.     On 

July   8,    1827,    Russia,    France,    and   England 

entered  into  concerted  action  by   the  Treaty 

37 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


of  London.  The  united  fleets  of  the  three 
powers  annihilated  the  Turkish  and  Egyptian 
fleets  at  Navarino  (October  20).  While  a 
French  army  was  operating  in  the  Morea  to 
insure  Greek  independence,  Nicholas  I.  took 
it  upon  himself  to  settle  the  rest  of  the  Eastern 
Question.  His  European  army  again  con- 
quered the  Roumanians  and  Bulgarians, 
invaded  Thrace,  and  entered  Adrianojilo.  In 
Asia,  his  forces  occupied  Turkish  Caucasia. 
The  Treaty  of  Adrianople,  concluded  in  1829, 
guaranteed  the  autonomy  of  Moldavia,  of 
AVallachia,  and  of  Servia,  and  consummated 
the  indepen(l(!nce  of  Greece,  which  was  formed 
into  a  kingdom,  Thus  were  the  hopes  that 
Peter  the  Great  had  entertained  respecting 
the  Christians  of  the  l*]ast  partially  realized; 
hut  Russia  did  not  secure  any  territory  in 
Europe  excej)t  the  isles  of  the  Daiiuhian  delta; 
reserving  for  herself  freed(jm  of  navigation  in 
the  lilack  Sea,  and  an  open  way  through  the 
straits  of  the  Bosphorus  and  the  Dardanelles. 
38 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


Only  in  Asia  did  she  secure  a  territorial  indem- 
nity. 

The  second  eastern  war,  undertaken  by 
Nicholas  I.,  and  which  began  like  the  others 
by  the  conquest  of  the  Roumanians,  brought 
about  the  intervention  of  France  and  England 
in  the  Crimea,  which  caused  the  Czar  Nicholas 
to  die  of  grief,  and  which  ended  in  the  Treaty 
of  Paris  (March  30,  1856).  By  this  treaty, 
his  successor,  Alexander  II.,  had  to  renounce 
all  the  advantages  gained  in  Europe  by  the 
Treaty  of  Adrianople;  to  give  back  the  delta 
of  the  Danube;  to  consent  to  limiting  of  his 
military  power  in  the  Black  Sea;  and  to  abdi- 
cate his  exclusive  right  of  protection  over  the 
Danubian  principalities,  which  were  hence- 
forth placed  under  the  collective  protectorate 
of  the  great  powers. 

When   France   found   herself   engaged   in   a 

bloody  duel  with  the  German  Empire,  Russia 

profited  by  the  occasion  to  have  a  conference 

called  at  London  in  March,  1871,  by  which  she 

39 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


secured  the  suppression  of  article  two  of  the 
Treaty  of  Paris,  which  limited  her  military 
power  in  the  Black  Sea. 

The  last  and  the  most  decisive  Russian  inter- 
vention was  the  one  provoked  in  1877  by  the 
Bulgarian  massacres,  the  Bosnian  and  Herze- 
govinian  revolution,  and  the  uprising  in  Servia 
and  in  Montenegro.  In  addition  to  the  help 
of  these  different  forces,  Russia  made  sure  of 
the  armed  assistance  of  the  principality  of 
Roumania,  that  had  been  formed  in  1859,  by 
the  union  of  the  two  old-time  hospodarales  of 
Moldavia  and  Wallachia.  She  again  made  the 
conquest  of  Bulgaria  and  of  a  part  of  Thrace. 
This  time,  it  was  in  plain  sight  of  Constanti- 
nople that  the  victorious  armies  of  Alexander  II. 
halted.  The  Sultan  had  with  which  to  oppose 
them  only  twelve  thousand  men,  encamped  on 
the  heights  of  Tchadalcha.  It  seemed,  there- 
fore, to  be  in  the  power  of  the  Czar  to  bring  to 
an  end  the  Ottoman  domination  in  Europe, 
to  proclaim  the  liberation  of  all  the  Christian 
40 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


peoples,  and  at  last  to  plant  the  cross  on  the 
dome  of  Saint  Sophia.  But  before  the  threat- 
ening demonstration  of  England  and  the 
disquieting  attitude  of  Austria  and  Germany, 
he  did  not  dare  to  do  so.  He  contented  him- 
self with  imposing  upon  the  Porte  the  Treaty 
of  San  Stefano  (March  3,  1878),  which  secured 
for  the  proteges  of  Russia  an  actual  dismem- 
berment of  European  Turkey.  Montenegro  saw 
its  territory  doubled  in  extent;  Servia  and 
Roumania  were  declared  entirely  independent. 
The  first  received  the  districts  of  Nisch,  Lesko- 
vatz,  Mitrowitz,  and  Novibazar;  the  second 
acquired  Dobrudscha,  but  on  the  condition 
that  it  return  to  Russia  the  delta  of  the  Danube, 
which  Wallachia  had  acquired  in  the  treaty  of 
1856.  Bulgaria  was  to  form  a  vassal  principal- 
ity of  Turkey.  Her  territory  extended  from 
the  Danube  to  the  Black  and  iEgean  Seas, 
leaving  around  Constantinople  and  Salonica 
only  some  fragments  of  Ottoman  territory. 
In  Asia,  Russia  acquired  the  fortresses 
41 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


and  districts  of  Batum,  Kars,  Ardahan,  and 
Bayazid.  Moreover,  Turkey  was  to  pay  a 
war  indemnity  of  three  hundred  and  ten  million 
rubles. 

Thus  Russia  took,  so  to  speak,  nothing  for 
herself  in  Europe.  It  was  sufficient  for  her  that 
Roumania,  Servia,  Montenegro,  and  Bulgaria 
were  completely  liberated  and  organized.  Of 
course,  she  hoped  that  these  petty  states  that 
owed  their  very  existence  to  her  would  be  more 
docile  to  her  influence  than  to  that  of  the  Sultan, 
less  accessible  to  the  hostile  influences  of  the 
German  and  English  powers,  that  their  ports 
would  be  open  to  her,  and  that  their  armies 
would  constitute  auxiliary  corps  of  the  Russian 
army. 

An  early  disillusion  came  to  the  "Liberator 
Czar."  The  relative  disinterestedness  of  which 
he  had  given  proof  at  San  Stefano  did  not  fore- 
sec  the  jealousy  of  Austria,  fostered  as  this  was 
by  Germany  and  ICngland.  Under  threat  of 
a  general  war,  they  ({(^nanded  a  revision  of 
42 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


that  treaty.  England  would  have  even  desired 
that  the  treaty  of  1856  should  be  taken  as  a 
basis  for  discussion,  as  if  she  could  proceed 
with  the  victorious  Russia  of  1878  as  she  had 
done  with  the  Russia  of  1856,  conquered  in  the 
Crimea.  The  Czar  agreed  to  the  calling  of  a 
congress  in  Berlin.  The  treaty  that  was 
signed  there  July  13,  1878,  curtailed  Monte- 
negro of  half  the  part  assigned  her,  and  for- 
bade her  having  a  navy,  took  back  Novibazar 
and  Mitrowitz  from  Servia,  and  was  particu- 
larly harsh  towards  Bulgaria;  reducing  her 
territory  by  one-third,  and  carving  the  remain- 
der into  two  provinces.  Northern  Bulgaria, 
with  the  title  of  "vassal  principality,"  and 
Southern  Bulgaria,  under  the  name  of  the 
province  of  Eastern  Roumelia,  which  continued 
under  Turkish  domination,  but  which  was  to  be 
administered  by  a  Christian  government. 
Increase  of  territory  was  granted  to  Greece 
by  the  addition  of  a  district  of  Epirus  (Arta) 
and  abnost  all  of  Thessaly.  There  was  even 
43 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


quibbling  over  the  territory  that  Russia  had 
retained  in  Asia.  Bayazid  was  taken  from 
her,  and  Batum  was  to  be  dismantled  and  to 
become  an  open  port.  What  especially  irri- 
tated the  Czar  was  the  fact  that  the  two  powers 
that  were  thus  depriving  him  of  the  fruits  of 
his  victories  found  means  to  slice  off  a  share 
for  themselves.  Under  the  pretext  of  adminis- 
tering their  affairs,  Austria  secured  Bosnia  and 
Herzegovina,  and,  by  a  separate  treaty,  Eng- 
land had  given  to  her  by  the  Sultan  the  island 
of  Cyprus  (30th  of  May  and  4th  of  June)  and 
a  controlling  situation  in  Anatolia.* 

Emperor  Alexander  II.  had  run  the  danger  of 
a  European  war  in  order  to  carry  out  his 
prograninui  of  "liberation."  The  danger  still 
remained  iininincnt,  so  long  as  he  did  not 
accept  the  provisions  of  ihv.  Berlin  Treaty. 
There  threatened  to  spring  uj)  again,  at  each 
of  the  manifold  incidents  that  arose  over  the 

(')  A  {I'Avril,  N egociations  relatives  nu  trniu't  de  Berlin 
et  aux  arrangements  qui  out  suivi.     I'uris,  1886. 

44 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


task  of  settling  the  boundaries  of  the  ceded 
countries,  armed  protests,  now  by  Greece, 
and  now  by  the  Albanians,  against  certain 
decisions  of  the  powers  that  were  not  to  their 
fancy,  and  intrigues  by  Austria  and  England 
for  the  purpose  of  alienating  from  Russia  the 
sympathies  of  the  nations  emancipated  by  her 
victories.  In  addition  to  this,  the  Panslavic 
agitation,  which  had  been  sufficiently  strong  in 
Russia  to  lead  the  government  to  run  those 
risks  in  the  East,  did  not  subside.  The  most 
impetuous  minds  found  cause  of  grievance 
against  the  Czar,  that  he  had  not  carried  out 
his  undertaking  to  the  end,  and  had  his  vic- 
torious regiments  enter  Stamboul,  at  the  peril 
of  a  conflict  with  the  English  in  the  very  streets 
of  that  capital.  The  Liberals  made  a  pretext 
of  the  constitutions  granted  the  Roumanians, 
the  Servians,  and  the  Bulgarians,  to  demand  a 
constitution  for  Russia.  The  Panslavist  and 
Liberal  agitation  had,  perhaps,  some  connec- 
tion with  the  rise  of  another  agitation  which 
45 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


soon  made  its  appearance,  an  agitation  called 
Nihilism,  of  a  character  entirely  revolutionary 
and  subversive,  and  which  fitly  terminated  on 
that  tragic  day  of  March  13,  1881,  when  the 
"Liberator  Czar"  became  the  "Martyr  Czar." 
For  his  successor,  Alexander  III.,  the  results 
of  the  eastern  war  were  preparing  another 
series  of  disillusions.  The  only  fruit  that 
Russia  could  still  expect  from  her  sacrifices 
and  her  victories  was  the  strengthening  of  her 
influence  over  the  Christian  peoples  emancipated 
by  her,— and  their  eternal  gratitude.  Now 
inunediately  after  this  war  the  most  short- 
sighted Russian  statesmen  were  constrained  to 
confess  that  the  success  of  their  arms  had  just 
created  on  that  "Way  to  Byzantium,"  which 
Catherine  II.  had  so  thickly  strewn  with  \)\v- 
mature  triumphal  arches,  obstacles  more  insur- 
mountable than  those  which  the  uriuics  of  the 
Sultan  had  ever  been  able  to  oppose  to  th(> 
annies  of  Alexander  T.  or  of  Nicholas  I., — 
more  insurmountable  than  the  Danube  or  the 
46 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


Balkans,  formerly  bristling  with  the  fortresses 
of  the  Ottomans.  These  new  obstacles  con- 
sisted in  the  existence  itself  of  the  emancipated 
nations,  and  their  attachment  to  their  newly 
found  freedom.  Thus  it  was  that  France,  after 
she  had  emancipated  Belgium  under  Louis- 
Philippe  and  Italy  under  Napoleon  III.,  found 
that  she  had  raised  upon  her  northern  and 
southeastern  frontiers  barriers  far  more  impreg- 
nable than  the  armies  or  fortresses  of  Austria; 
that  she  had  closed  forever  against  herself 
those  Belgian  and  Lombard  battlefields  over 
which  her  ensigns  of  victory  had  so  often  floated. 
In  the  formation  of  an  Italian  kingdom,  France 
created  the  chief  obstacle  in  the  way  of  her  own 
expansion  on  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean. 

The  French  have  naturally  and  repeatedly 
denounced  the  ingratitude  of  Italy;  nor  can 
the  Russians  be  blamed  for  their  grief  over  the 
ingratitude  of  the  Roumanians,  the  Servians, 
the  Bulgarians,  and  the  Greeks.  But  such  is 
human  nature!  The  feeling  of  independence 
47 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


and  of  national  pride  among  newly  born  peoples 
will  always  outweigh  the  feeling  of  gratitude 
towards  their  liberators.  In  this  respect  there 
was  no  difference  between  the  peoples  joined 
to  the  Russians  merel}'  by  religion,  like  the 
Roumanians  and  the  Greeks,  and  those  who 
were  related  to  them  both  by  religion  and 
race,  like  the  Bulgarians  and  the  Servians.  In 
former  times,  when  the  Ottoman  yoke  rested 
upon  them  with  its  frightful  burden,  assuredly 
they  would  all  have  joyfully  accepted  the  lord- 
ship of  the  Czar  in  exchange  for  that*  of  the 
Sultan;  but  now,  when  it  was  a  question  of 
choosing  between  the  domination  of  the  Czar 
and  their  own  independence,  there  could  be  no 
hesitation  with  any  of  them. 

The  Russias  h;ul  done  much  for  the  Rou- 
manians. Even  when  they  had  been  unsuc- 
cessful in  wresting  their  territory  from  Turkey, 
they  hud  in  IIk*  treaties  of  KaVrnaji,  Viussy, 
Bucharest,  Akcniian,  and  Adriano|)le,  stipu- 
lated precious  guarantees  for  their  prolcg&s  and 
48 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


then,  later,  secured  for  them  an  almost  com- 
plete autonomy.  In  concert  with  France,  in 
1861,  they  had  made  the  Sultan  accept  the 
union  of  Moldavia  and  Wallachia  into  one 
province.  In  1878,  they  assured  this  prin- 
cipality of  Roumania  its  full  independence, 
and,  in  1881,  they  consented  to  its  being 
organized  into  a  kingdom.  But  the  new  King 
of  Roumania,  Charles  of  Hohenzollern,  and 
his  new  subjects  meant  to  remain  independent 
of  every  other  power,  to  have  their  own  army 
and  navy,  their  own  national  policy  and  diplo- 
macy, and  to  exercise  the  right,  whenever  their 
liberators  showed  themselves  in  the  slightest 
degree  meddlesome,  to  seek  help  even  from 
Russia's  rivals,  Austria,  Germany,  and  Eng- 
land, or,  even  more  than  this,  from  their  old- 
time  oppressor,  the  Sultan  of  Constantinople. 
More  than  once,  the  Roumanians  raised  com- 
plaint against  Russia,  because,  in  1812,  she 
had  annexed  the  little  Roumanian  district  of 
Bessarabia,  and  because,  in  1878,  she  compelled 
49 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


them  to  give  back  to  her  the  islands  of  the 
Danubian  delta. 

It  was  the  same  with  the  principality  of 
Servia,  also  made  into  a  kingdom  in  1882,  and 
which,  according  to  the  needs  of  its  national 
or  dynastic  policy,  did  not  cease  to  oscillate 
between  Russian  and  Austro-German  influences. 
It  was  the  same  also  with  the  kingdom  of 
Greece,  which  paid  no  heed  to  the  remon- 
strances of  Russia,  when  her  national  ambition 
was  involved,  and  which  had  no  scruples  in 
troubling  the  peace  of  the  East  every  time  that 
it  was  possible  for  her  to  raise  the  question  of 
uniting  to  the  Hellenic  state  either  Epirus  or 
Northern  Thessaly  or  Macedonia  or  Crete. 

The  country  that  was  under  the  greatest 
obligation  to  Russia  was  Bulgaria.  If  France 
or  England  had  at  times  assisted  in  the  libera- 
tion of  the  Roumanians,  the  Servians,  and  the 
Greeks,  it  was  to  Russia  alone  that  the  Bul- 
garians were  indebted  for  this  deliverance. 
Immediately  after  the  "Bulgarian  atrocities" 
50 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


of  1875,  Russia  had  hastened  to  her  help. 
From  the  condition  of  simple  rdias  oppressed 
by  Turkey  and  cruelly  treated  by  the  Tcher- 
kesses  and  the  Bashi-Bazouks,  she  had  caused 
them  to  be  instantly  raised  to  the  dignity  of 
a  free  people.  At  San  Stefano,  she  had  endeav- 
ored to  unite  them  into  one  state,  the  most 
powerful  of  the  Balkan  peninsula;  which  would 
have  extended  from  the  Danube  to  the  Black 
and  iEgean  Seas;  and  she  accepted  only  with 
deepest  reluctance  the  mutilation  and  dismem- 
berment that  the  Treaty  of  Berlin  imposed  upon 
"Great  Bulgaria."  She  gave  the  restricted 
principality  of  Bulgaria  at  least  a  constitution 
when  she  herself  had  none.  It  was  the  Rus- 
sian commissioner  in  Bulgaria,  Prince  Dondu- 
kof-Korsakof,  who,  on  February  23,  1879,  con- 
voked at  Tirnovo  the  first  "constituency 
assembly";  it  was  he  who  presided  at  the 
meeting  of  the  first  "legislative  assembly,"  or 
Sohranie;  it  was  he  who  espoused  the  cause  of 
their  prince,  Alexander  of  Battenberg;  it  was 
51 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


he  who  organized  a  Bulgarian  army  of  one 
hundred  thousand  men  supphed  with  vahant 
Russian  officers,  well  equipped,  well  drilled,  and 
provided  with  excellent  artillery.  Neverthe- 
less, this  people  and  this  prince,  who  owed 
everything  to  Russia,  began  at  once  to  pra©- 
tice  a  policy  in  which  the  advice  of  the  Czar 
Alexander  III.  was  no  longer  heeded.  They 
set  out  to  remove  the  Russians  who  had  port- 
folios in  their  ministry  and  positions  in  their 
army.  In  spite  of  the  Czar,  they  brought  about 
the  revolution  of  Philippopolis  in  September, 
1885,  which  ended  in  the  union  of  the  Bul- 
garian ])rincipality  and  the  Bulgarian  province 
of  East  Roumelia,  but  which  provoked  a  bloody 
war  with  Servia,  jealous  at  seeing  her  neigh- 
bor's increase  of  territory.  When  Alexander  of 
Battenberg  had  to  renounce  his  throne,  in  1887, 
it  was  a  prince  that  posed  as  a  clicmt  of  Austria 
and  of  Germany,  Ferdinand  of  Saxe-Coburg, 
whom  the  liulgarianK  called  to  rule  them. 
With  his  Prime  Minister,  Stambulof,  he  gov- 
62 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


erned,— resolutely  set  against  the  influence  of 
Russia;  he  discriminated  against  her  partisans, 
and  surrounded  himself  with  her  adversaries. 
And,  thus,  the  liberation  and  the  organization 
of  Bulgaria,  which  the  Czar  had  hoped  to  be 
able  to  direct,  have  gone  on  independently  of 
him,  and,  in  certain  respects,  in  opposition  to 
him.     Sic    vos,    non    vohis!    Alexander    III.'s 
resentment  against  Bulgaria  and  her  prince  was 
very  bitter.    The  somewhat  imperious  and  med- 
dlesome affection  of  the  early  days  soon  turned 
into  hostility.     When  Alexander  III.  died,  in 
1894,  the  rupture  was  complete  between  the 
intractable  principality  and  the  powerful  empire. 
Thus   all   the   wars   undertaken   in   Eastern 
Europe  by  Russia,   from  Peter  the  Great,  in 
1711,   down   to   Alexander   II.   in   1877,   have 
ended,  except  in  Asia  and  on  the  north  coast 
of  the  Black  Sea,  so  far  as  territorial  expansion 
is  concerned,  in  most  meagre  results.     Seven 
great  wars  have  brought  her  only  a  strip  of 
Roumanian  territory  between  the  Dneister  and 
53 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


the  Pruth,  and  another  Roumanian  bit  of  land  in 
the  delta  of  the  Danube.  Even  this  last  morsel, 
acquired  in  1829  and  restored  in  1856,  was  won 
back  in  1877  only  at  the  cost  of  vehement  fault- 
finding upon  the  part  of  the  Roumanian  people. 
Russia,  whose  fleets  have  twice — at  Tchesme  in 
1770,  and  at  Navarino,  in  1827, — annihilated  the 
naval  power  of  Turkey,  have  never  been  able  to 
secure  even  an  island  in  the  iEgean  Sea. 

Thus  much  for  material  advantages.  As  to 
satisfaction  of  a  moral  character,  the  Russian 
soldiers  have  never  been  able  to  enter  Stamboul, 
nor  to  pray  in  Saint  Sophia;  and  as  to  gratitude 
upon  the  part  of  the  liberated  peoples,  we  have 
seen  what  Alexander  II.  and  Alexander  III. 
could  never  have  dreamed  of. 

Their  successor,  the  present  Emperor,  Nicho- 
las II.,  seems  to  have  taken  it  for  granted  that 
in  the  direction  of  the  Danube,  of  the  Black 
Sea,  and  of  the  iEgean  Sea,  the  destiny  of  Rus- 
sia is  fixed  for  a  long  time  to  come.  In  these 
directions,  she  has  no  longer  any  moral  or 
54 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 


material  advantages  to  gain,  and  the  age  of 
sentimental  undertakings  is  also  at  an  end. 
Unless  there  should  come  some  European  over- 
turning, the  famous  "Eastern  Question"  will 
have  for  Russia  only  an  archaeological  interest. 
All  that  Nicholas  II.  is  doing  seems  to  indicate 
that  this  is  his  conviction.  He  shows  no  inter- 
est in  the  party  struggles  and  ministerial  crises 
in  the  Roumanian  and  Servian  kingdoms; 
towards  the  Bulgarians,  he  shows  neither  jeal- 
ous affection  nor  the  irreconcilable  rancor  of 
his  father.  Whenever  the  Prince  and  people 
of  Bulgaria  have  manifested  a  desire  for  recon- 
ciliation with  Russia,  he  has  cordially  welcomed 
them;  he  sent  a  representative  to  the  orthodox 
baptism  of  the  Crown  Prince  Boris,  but  appar- 
ently without  forming  any  illusions  as  to  what 
he  might  expect  of  his  proteges.  When  the 
Cretan  insurrection  occurred,  and  the  war 
foolishly  undertaken  by  the  Greeks  against 
Turkey  was  declared,  he  was  careful  not  to 
assume  a  leading  role,  something  that  his  three 
55 


RUSSIA  IN  EUROPE 

predecessors  would  not  have  failed  to  do.  On 
the  contrary,  he  seemed  to  sink  Russia  in  the 
"European  Concert,"  to  associate  her  in  all  the 
decisions  of  the  five  other  great  powers,  and 
purely  and  simply  to  accept  accomplished 
facts.  Also,  when  the  Armenian  troubles  and 
massacres  took  place,  he  did  not  attempt  to 
intervene,  nor  to  arrogate  to  himself,  cither  by 
land  or  sea,  the  role  of  liberator  of  this  other 
oppressed  people.  He  has  rather  favored  a 
temporizing  policy,  and  has  discouraged  the 
plans  formed  by  the  other  powers  to  send  Euro- 
pean fleets  to  the  very  walls  of  the  Seraglio, 
and  to  impose  by  force  reforms  upon  the  Sultan 
Abdul-Hamid.  On  the  other  hand,  in  certain 
other  directions,  in  that  of  the  Indian  Ocean, 
in  that  of  British  India,  and  in  that  of  the 
China  and  Japan  Seas,  Russia  has  followed  a 
very  formal,  a  very  decided  policy.  At  once 
very  energetic  and  skillful  in  this  policy,  she 
has,  at  the  same  time,  acted  in  entire  inde- 
pendence of  the  "European  Concert." 
56 


THE   SOUTHWARD   EXPANSION 
OF  RUSSIA  IN  ASIA. 

An  Asiatic  Power — Wars  and  Treaties  with 
Persia — A  Way  to  the  Indian  Ocean — In  the 
Caucasus — Paramount  in  Persia. 

If  the  policy  of  the  present  Emperor  of  the 
Russias  seems  to  be  inspired  by  other  princi- 
ples than  those  of  his  predecessors;  if  this 
policy  has  shown  itself  to  be  essentially  peace- 
able and  disinterested  in  Europe;  if  it  has 
shifted  its  sphere  of  activity  from  the  West  in 
order  to  devote  all  its  efforts  to  Southern  and 
especially  to  Eastern  Asia, — this  is,  perhaps, 
due  to  the  impressions  made  upon  the  Czar 
during  his  extended  travels  in  the  years  1890 
and  1891,  while  he  was  still  only  the  Czaro- 
vitch  Nicholas.  He  visited  Greece,  Egypt, 
British  India,  French  Indo-China,  Japan,  and 
China.  Then,  disembarking  at  Vladivostock,  a 
powerful  Russian  naval  station  on  a  bay  of  the 
57 


RUSSIA  IN  ASIA 


Sea  of  Japan,  he  returned  overland  to  St. 
Petersburg,  crossing  the  whole  extent  of  Siberia. 
The  Czarovitch,  of  course,  did  not  give  his 
impressions  a  literary  form;  but  one  of  his 
travelling  companions.  Prince  Oukhtomski,  has 
published  his  in  two  luxurious  volumes,  mag- 
nificently illustrated  by  the  Russian  artist, 
Karazine." 

The  opinions  of  Prince  Oukhtomski  seem  to 
reveal  a  new  element  in  Russian  policy.  For- 
merly the  Russians  were  indignant  over  Prince 
Bismarck's  reported  observation  that  "Russia 
has  nothing  to  do  in  the  AVest.  Her  mission  is 
in  Asia;  there  she  represents  civilization." 
Prince  Oukhtomski  is  not  far  from  holding  the 
same  opinion  as  did  this  envious  foe  of  his 
country.  For  a  few  parcels  of  territory  con- 
quered with  such  difficulty  in  t1i(>  West,  what 
bloody  wars  has  she  not  endured?  Her  efforts 
to  obtnin  across  to  the  sea  have  been  but  half 

(')  T^e  prince  Oukhtomski,  Voyage  dr  non  Altesae 
Imperiale  Ic  Czarovitch   en  orient,  Paris,  1898. 

58 


RUSSIA  IN  ASIA 


successful.  The  White  Sea,  blocked  with  ice; 
the  Baltic,  as  much  Scandinavian  and  German 
as  Russian,  closed  to  her  on  the  west  by  the 
Sound  and  the  Belts;  the  Black  Sea,  only  yet 
half  Russian,  and  closed  on  the  southwest  by 
the  Bosphorous  and  the  Dardanelles;  and  the 
Mediterranean  itself,  with  England  holding 
Gibraltar,  Malta,  Cyprus,  Egypt,  and  the  Suez 
Canal, — are  these  seas,  so  little  available,  suffi- 
cient for  the  needs  of  the  expansion  of  the 
mighty  continental  empire  that  Russia  is  to-day? 
In  Asia,  on  the  contrary,  who  knows  whether 
by  the  Euphrates  and  the  Persian  Gulf,  by 
Afghanistan  and  the  Indus,  she  is  not  going  to 
be  able  to  open  her  way  to  the  Indian  Ocean? 
Who  knows  whether,  already  mistress  of  the 
Okhotsk  Sea,  she  will  not  become  mistress  also 
of  the  Sea  of  Japan  and  the  Yellow  Sea,  both 
opening  with  broad  outlets  into  the  immensity 
of  the  Pacific?  Now,  the  importance  that  in 
ancient  times  the  Mediterranean  had  for  man- 
kind, and  which  the  Atlantic  possessed  from 
59 


RUSSIA  IN  ASIA 


the  fifteenth  to  the  nhieteenth  century,  seems 
to-day  to  be  shifting  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Of 
all  the  nations  bordering  on  this  truly  universal 
ocean,  the  Russian  Empire  is  destined  to  be 
one  of  the  most  powerful.  As  to  territorial 
conquests,  how  are  those  that  Russia  won  in 
little  Europe,  where  every  square  mile  cost  her 
a  battle,  to  be  compared  with  those  which, 
with  infinitely  less  sacrifice  and  effort,  she  has 
already  won,  or  can  yet  win,  in  Asia?  Bis- 
marck spoke  in  disdain  of  the  mission  of  Russia 
in  Asia.  Prince  Oukhtomski  speaks  of  it  with 
pride:  "The  time  has  come  for  the  Russians  to 
have  some  definite  idea  regarding  the  heritage 
that  the  Jenghis  Khans  and  the  Tamerlanes 
hav(!  left  us.  Asia!  we  have  been  part  of  it  at 
all  times;  we  have  lived  its  life  and  shared  its 
interests;  our  geographical  position  irn^vocably 
destines  us  to  be  the  head  of  the  rudimentary 
powers  of  the  lOast." 

From  llic  lliirtcciilh  to  (lie  fifteenth  century, 
Russia  was  a  province  of  the  Mongol  Empire. 
60 


RUSSIA  IN  ASIA 


Everything  that  constituted  that  Mongol  Em- 
pire, however,  is  perhaps  destined  to  become 
only  a  province  of  Russia.  The  capital  will 
simply  be  transferred  from  Karakorum  or  from 
the  shores  of  the  Amur  to  the  banks  of  the  Neva. 
Asiatic  in  their  mixture  of  races,  Asiatic  in 
their  history,  conquered  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, conquering  since  the  sixteenth,  the  Rus- 
sians possess  to  a  higher  degree  than  either  the 
French  or  the  Anglo-Saxons  an  understanding 
of  things  Asiatic.  They  have  all  the  right  that 
is  possible  to  supplant  "those  colonies  of  the 
Germanic  and  the  Latin  races  that  are  taking 
unwilling  Asia  under  their  tutelage."  More- 
over, the  true  successor  in  Asia  of  the  old-time 
czars  or  khans  of  the  Finnish  race  is  not  the 
Bogdy-Khan  who  rules  at  Pekin,  but "  the  White 
Czar  who  reigns  at  St.  Petersburg."  In  one 
of  the  pagodas  of  Canton  are  to  be  seen,  as 
Prince  Oukhtomski  assures  us,  four  colossal 
figures,  called  "the  kings  of  the  four  cardinal 
points,"  and  Prince  Oukhtomski  felt  confident 
61 


RUSSIA  IN  ASIA 


that  it  was  to  "the  King  of  the  North"  that 
the  people  rendered  the  greatest  homage. 

Laying  aside  these  dreams  of  the  future,  let 
us  see  what,  up  to  the  present  time,  has  been 
actually  accomplished  to  bring  about  their 
realization.  The  efforts  of  the  Russians 
throughout  their  history  as  an  Asiatic  power 
are  connected  with  one  or  the  other  of  two 
great  movements:  her  southward  expansion 
towards  Persia  and  British  India,  and  her 
eastward  expansion  in  the  regions  bordering 
on  China,  Corea,  and  Japan. 

In  1554,  during  the  reign  of  Ivan  the  Ter- 
rible, the  Russians  gained  a  foothold  on  the 
Caspian  Sea  by  the  conquest  of  the  czarate 
of  Astrakhan  and  of  the  lower  Volga.  Towards 
the  close  of  his  life,  Peter  the  Great  waged  war 
on  Persia,  captured  Derbend  on  the  Caspian, 
and  occupied  the  provinces  of  Daghcstan, 
Shirvan,  Ghilan,  and  Mazandaran,  and  the 
cities  of  Rasht  anil  Astrabad.  The  unhealthy 
character  of  these  regions  made  them  "the 
C2 


RUSSIA  IN  ASIA 


cemetery  of  Russian  armies,"  and  the  suc- 
cessors of  the  great  Czar  had  to  abandon  them. 
A  war  undertaken  by  Catherine  II.,  also  in 
the  last  years  of  her  reign,  ended  in  the  same 
result,  and  her  son,  Paul  I.,  recalled  the  troops. 
In  the  region  of  the  Caucasus,  the  Russians 
had  gained  a  foothold,  between  the  years 
1774-1784,  by  the  acquisition  of  the  Kuban 
as  far  as  the  Terek,  and,  strangely  enough, 
it  was  not  on  the  northern  slope  of  the  moun- 
tains, but  upon  the  southern  that  they  were 
to  begin  the  conquest  of  this  Caucasus.  In 
1783,  the  King,  or  Czar,  of  Georgia,  Heraclius, 
declared  himself  to  be  the  vassal  of  Catherine 
II.  in  order  that  he  might  have  her  assistance 
against  the  Persians  and  the  Ottomans.  In 
1799,  his  son,  George  XII., ^  formally  ceded 
his  state  to  Paul  I.,  although  his  son,  David, 
continued    to    govern    until    1803,    when    the 

(0  Dubrovine,  Georges  XII.,  dernier  tsar  de  Georgie, 
et  V annexation  a  la  Russie  (in  Russian),  St.  Petersburg, 
1897. 


63 


RUSSIA  IN  ASIA 


annexation  was  consummated.  This  acquis- 
sition  brought  Russia  into  coHision  with  the 
Persians  and  the  Ottomans  on  one  hand,  and, 
on  another,  with  the  independent  tribes  of 
the  Caucasus.  By  the  Treaty  of  Guhstan, 
in  1813,  Persia  ceded  to  Russia  Daghestan, 
Shirvan,  and  Shusha,  and  renounced  all  claims 
upon  Georgia  and  other  territories  of  the 
Caucasus.  Another  war  broke  out  in  1826, 
which  was  terminated  by  the  Treaty  of  Turk- 
manshai,  February  22,  1828,  by  which  Persia 
surrendered  her  two  Armenian  provinces,' 
Nakhitchevan  and  Erivan.  The  same  year, 
in  the  Treaty  of  Adrianople,  Turkey  gave 
over  to  Russia  the  fortresses  and  districts 
of  Anapa,  Poti,  and  Akhalzikh,  and  all  rights 
(bitterly  contested  by  the;  inhabitants)  over 
Imeritia,  Mingrelia,  and  Abkhasia.  Then 
began,  in  the  new  possessions,  the  task  of 
pacifying    the    wild     iiiouiitaineers    of     (licse 

(')    Ivonl  (.'iirzon,    Persia  and  the   Persian   Question, 
London,  18U2. 

64 


RUSSIA  IN  ASIA 


regions,  and  also  the  Tcherkesses,  or  Cir- 
cassians, of  the  northern  slope.  The  Circas- 
sians and  the  Abkhasui,  roused  to  fanaticism 
by  the  soldier  priest,  the  Imam  Shamyl,  held 
out  against  the  Russians  for  nearly  thirty 
years.  In  1844,  Russia  had  in  the  Caucasus 
two  hundred  thousand  soldiers,  commanded 
by  her  best  generals.  The  capture  of  Vedeni, 
in  1858,  and  the  surrender  of  Shamyl,  a  year 
later,  assured  the  pacification  of  the  Caucasus. 
The  increase  of  territory  that  Russia  made  at 
the  expense  of  Turkey,  in  1878,  by  the  Treaties 
of  San  Stefano  and  Berlin,  included  the  dis- 
tricts of  Kars,  Ardahan,  and  Olty,  and  the  port 
of  Batum,  and  fixed  the  boundary  line  between 
Turkey  and  Russia  as  it  has  since  remained. 

Since  the  Treaty  of  1828,  Persia  under  the 
Shahs,  Fet-Aly-Khan,  Mohammed,  Nasr-ed- 
Din,  and  Muzafer-ed-Din,  has  fallen  almost 
entirely  under  Russian  influence.  In  1837-38, 
the  Shah  Mohanmied,  with  an  army  com- 
manded by  Russian  officers,  besieged  Herat, 
65 


RUSSIA  IN  ASIA 


defended  by  Afghans  under  the  leadership  of 
Enghsh  officers.  In  1856,  the  Shah  Nars- 
ed-Din,  at  the  suggestion  of  Russia,  besieged 
and  captured  Herat;  but  the  Enghsh  com- 
pelled him  to  abandon  his  prize,  by  making 
a  descent  on  the  Persian  Gulf,  where  they 
captured  the  port  of  Bushire  and  the  island 
of  Karrack,  which  they  have  kept.  In  1841, 
Persia  ceded  to  Russia  the  Caspian  port  of 
Ashurada,  near  Astrabad;  in  1881,  Askabad 
was  given  to  the  same  power,  and,  in  1885, 
Serakhs,— all  three  places  very  important 
strategic  points  on  the  eastern  frontier.  Persia 
has  also  agreed  to  the  building  of  Russian 
railroads  that  are  to  pass  through  her  territory 
and  terminate  on  the  Persian  Gulf.  The  present 
year,  she  has  negotiated  a  loan  of  twenty-two 
million  five  hundred  thousand  rubles  through 
the  agency  of  the  "bank  of  Persia,"  estab- 
lished under  Russian  auspices.  This  loan  is 
payable  in  seventy-five  years,  and  \\\o  interest 
is  secured  by  all  the  customs  revenues  of  the 
GO 


RUSSIA  IN  ASIA 


kingdom,  save  those  of  the  Persian  Gulf.  The 
Shah  has  bound  himself  not  to  seek  further 
loans  of  any  other  European  power,  and  has 
thereby  placed  himself  financially  in  the  hands 
of  Russia.  It  is  thus  that  Russia,  by  her 
diplomacy,  by  her  banks,  and  by  her  railroads, 
making  Persia  her  political  and  commercial 
vassal,  has  succeeded  in  furthering  her  scheme 
of  expansion  towards  the  Persian  Gulf  and 
the  shores  of  the  Indian  Ocean. 


67 


FURTHER  CONQUESTS. 

Expansion  Towards  India — Napoleon — The  Con- 
quest OF  THE  Khans — In  Afghanistan — The 
"Key  of  the  Indies" — In  Touch  with  India — 
Abyssinia — British  Over-Confidence. 

Towards  British  India  Russian  expansion 
was  to  seek  still  other  channels.  The  con- 
quests in  the  Caucasus,  which  we  have  been 
reviewing,  opened  the  way  along  the  western 
and  southern  sides  of  the  Caspian  Sea.  But 
for  a  long  time  the  Russians  had  been  endeavor- 
ing to  turn  the  sea  from  its  northern  side. 
In  the  reign  of  the  Empress  Anna  Ivanovna, 
hordes  of  Kirghiz,  whoso  camping  grounds 
lay  to  the  east  of  the  Ural  River,  submitted 
to  Russia  (1734).  Her  sway  was  then  exlcndcd 
into  Turkestan,  that  expanse  of  steppes  imd 
oases  watered  by  the  Jaxartes  (Sir-Daria) 
and  the  Oxus  (Amu-l)aria),  that  enijjfy  into 
the  Aral  Sea,  a  region  Hial  is  bounded  on  the 
west  by  thci  Casf)iari  Sea,  on  the  south  by 
68 


FURTHER  CONQUESTS 

Persia  and  Afghanistan,  on  the  east  by  the 
Chinese  Empire,  and  on  the  north  by  Siberia. 
Here  was  located  ancient  Djagatai,  the  debris 
of  former  Mongol  Empires.* 

When  the  Russians  saw  these  vast  plains 
spread  out  before  them,  they  at  first  thought 

(')  Subsequently  it  was  broken  up  into  numerous 
states,  the  principal  ones  being  the  khanate  of  Kho- 
kand,  with  its  chief  cities  Turkistan,  Tashkend,  Tchim- 
kend,  and  Khodjend  on  the  upper  Jaxartes,  or  Sir- 
Daria;  the  khanate  of  Balkh  (ancient  Bactria),  and 
the  khanate  of  Samarkand,  fallen  into  dependency 
upon  the  khanate  of  Bokhara,  on  the  upper  Oxus,  or 
Amu-Daria;  the  khanate  of  Khiva  on  the  lower  Oxus; 
and  on  the  Kashgar  and  Yarkand  Rivers  emptying 
into  Lake  Lob-Nor,  and  the  Hi  flowing  into  Lake 
Balkash,  knanates  (Kashgar,  Yarkand,  and  Kuldja) 
that  belonged  to  China.  Outside  of  the  districts 
inhabited  by  a  settled  people  are  the  deserts  of  sand 
over  which  wander  nomadic  tribes.  To  the  north  of 
the  Jaxartes,  are  the  Kirghiz,  divided  into  several 
hordes,  and  the  Turkomans,  or  Turkmens,  on  the  east 
of  the  Caspian  Sea. — Consult  Krahmer,  Russland  in 
Asien,  vol.  i.;  Transkaspian  und  seine  Eisenbahn,  vol.  ii.; 
Mittel-Asien,  Leipzig,  1898-99.  Makch^ef,  Coup  d'oeil 
historique  sur  le  Turkestan  et  la  marche  progressive  des 
Russes  (in  Russian),  St.  Petersburg,  1890.  Albrecht, 
Russisches  Central- Asien,  Hamburg,  1896.  H.  Mozer, 
A  tr avers  V  Asie  centrale,  Paris,  1885. 

69 


FURTHER  CONQUESTS 

that  they  were  near  British  India,  and  that 
an  entrance  to  that  rich  peninsula  would  be 
as  easy  to  them  as  it  had  been  to  so  many 
Asiatic  conquerors  that  had  gone  forth  from 
the  steppes  of  Turkestan  or  the  valleys  of 
Afghanistan.  From  this  conviction  was  born 
the  first  schemes  that  the  Russians  entertained 
for  the  conquest  of  Hindustan.  Even  Peter 
the  Great  thought  of  it.  In  1717,  he  sent 
against  Khiva  an  expedition  under  Peter 
Bekovitch  that  perished  on  the  way.  A  cer- 
tain A.  M.  de  Saint  Genie  proposed  a  plan 
for  the  conquest  of  Hindustan  to  Catherine 
II.  in  1791;  but  the  most  celebrated  of  all 
these  projects  was  the  one  that  Paul  I.  sub- 
mitted to  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  then  first 
Consul  of  the  French  Republic,  whose  ally 
against  England  he  had  become.  The  plan 
was  to  place  two  armies  in  the  field.  General 
Knorring,  with  the  Cossacks  of  the  Don  and 
other  Russian  troops,  was  to  march  by  Khiva 
and  Bokhara  to  the  upper  Indus,  while  thirty- 
70 


FURTHER  CONQUESTS 

five  thousand  French  and  thirty-five  thousand 
Russians,  that  Paul  I.,  inspired  by  chivalric 
generosity,  proposed  placing  under  the  com- 
mand of  Massena,  the  conqueror  of  the  Russians 
at  the  battle  of  Ziirich,  were  to  unite  at  Astra- 
bad  on  the  southern  shore  of  the  Caspian  Sea. 
Thence  they  were  to  make  their  way  by  Herat 
and  Kandahar  to  the  upper  Indus  to  join 
forces  with  the  other  army.  Then,  altogether, 
French,  Russians,  Persians,  Turcomans,  and 
Afghans,  they  would  pour  down  into  India, 
proclaiming  to  the  princes  and  the  people  of 
the  peninsula  the  fall  of  English  tyranny  and 
their  independence.  "  All  the  treasures  of  India 
were  to  be  their  recompense."  The  execution 
of  this  plan  was  even  begun.  The  Cossacks  of 
the  Don,  under  their  ataman,  Orlof-Denissof, 
were  already  across  the  Volga,  when  the  news 
of  the  death  of  Paul  I.  recalled  them  to  their 
camps.' 

(0  General  Batorski,  Projets  d'expedition  dans  I'ln- 
doustan  sous  Napoloen,  Paul  I.,  et  Alexandre  I.  (in  Rus- 

71 


FURTHER  CONQUESTS 

The  visionary  character  of  this  scheme  has 
been  demonstrated,  during  the  present  century, 
by  the  difficulties  that  the  Russian  armies 
have  had  to  encounter  in  winning  their  way 
over  a  very  small  fraction  of  the  immense 
journey  marked  out  in  1800.  At  the  cost  of 
enormous  effort,  the  oases  of  Turkestan,  which 
in  the  mind  of  Paul  I.  were  to  be  simply  halting 
places  in  the  long  march,  have  had  to  be  con- 
quered one  by  one;  one  by  one,  deep  valleys 
and  rocky  bluffs,  defended  by  war-like  tribes, 
have  had  to  be  captured  and  held.  To-day, 
even  with  these  avenues  of  approach  secured, 
the  goal  seems  as  far  off  as  it  did  to  the  optis- 
mistic   imagination   of   the   Czar   Paul    1.     In 

sian),  St.  Petersburg,  IS.SO.  H.  S.  Edwards,  Russian 
Projects  (ujninsl  India.  On  the  Russian  Expedition  in 
Turkestan,  sec;  Hugo  Stuinin,  Rapports,  Khiva  (trans- 
lut(!d  from  tlu- (jtTinan),  Paris,  1,S71;  A.  N.  Kouropat- 
kine  (at  ()resenfe- Itussian  Minister  of  War),  Turcomania 
and  the  Turcomans  (translated  into  English  from  tho 
Russian  by  Robert  Mitehell);  Skobclef,  Rapports  sur  les 
campagncR  de  1879-lHSl  (English  translation,  London, 
IHHl);  Marvin,  Russian  Campaifjns  amomj  the  Tekke- 
Turcomans  (from  Russian  odieial  sources). 

72 


FURTHER  CONQUESTS 

1839,  Nicholas  I.,  wishing  to  punish  the  Khan 
of  Khiva,  who  was  capturing  Russian  mer- 
chants and  pillaging  Russian  caravans,  des- 
patched a  body  of  troops  commanded  by 
General  Perovski.  The  severe  winters  of  the 
steppes  and  the  deep  snow  compelled  him, 
when  half  way  to  his  destination,  to  return. 
Nevertheless,  the  Khan,  intimidated  by  this 
demonstration,  liberated  the  Russian  prisoners 
(1840),  and  in  1842  consented  to  acknowledge 
the  over-lordship  of  Russia.  Two  years  later, 
the  eastern  Kirghiz  also  submitted.  In  order 
to  protect  these  new  subjects  against  the 
Khan  of  Khokand  it  was  necessary  to  wage 
war  with  the  latter.  From  1860  to  1864, 
the  leaders  of  the  Russian  troops,  Perovski, 
Kolpakovski,  Verevkine,  Tchernaieff,  captured 
the  fortresses  of  Ak-Mesjed,  Turkestan,  Aulie- 
Ata,  Tchimkend,  and  finally,  Tashkend,  a 
city  of  one  hundred  thousand  souls,  and  the 
commercial  emporium  of  that  region. 
The  Emir  of  Bokhara  attempted  to  intervene, 
73 


FURTHER  CONQUESTS 

and  had  a  ''holy  war"  preached  by  the  fanat- 
ical Mollahs;  but  he  was  conquered  in  the  battle 
of  Irjar  (1S66),  and  promised  to  pay  a  war 
indemnity. 

However  far  the  Russians  might  still  be 
from  the  frontier  of  India,  England  was  never- 
theless disturbed  at  their  success.  The  official 
journals  of  St.  Petersburg  amused  themselves 
with  pacific  declarations,  announcing  that 
there  was  no  intention  of  conquering  Bokhara; 
but  the  Czar  organized  the  territories,  already 
submissive,  into  "the  general  government 
of  Turkestan,"  and  General  Kaufmann  was 
placed  in  control.  The  Emir  of  Bokhara, 
having  refused  to  deliver  the  war  indemnity 
that  he  had  promised,  was  defeated  at  Zera- 
Bulak,  and  was  compelled  to  sign  the  treaty 
of  1868,  by  which  he  ceded  to  the  Russians 
the  khanates  of  Samarkand  and  Zerafshan; 
recognized  a  Russian  protectorate,  and  |)aid  an 
indemnity  of  two  inillioii  rubles.  Thv  khanate 
of  Khokand  became,  likewise,  a  vassal  state. 
74 


FURTHER  CONQUESTS 


The  Khan  of  Khiva  continued  to  pillage 
caravans,  and  to  hold  in  slavery  Russian 
merchants.  In  1873,  three  bodies  of  troops 
were  sent  against  him;  one  coming  from  the 
shores  of  the  Caspian  Sea  under  General  Mark- 
oaof,  the  second  from  Orenburg  under  General 
Verevkine,  the  third  from  Tashkend  under 
Governor-General  Kaufman.  The  first,  after 
a  difficult  march  through  the  burning  sands 
of  the  desert,  was  compelled  to  fall  back.  The 
other  two  entered  Khiva  almost  without  striking 
a  blow.  The  Khan  was  obliged  to  acknowledge 
himself  the  vassal  of  "the  White  Czar,"  to 
cede  all  that  part  of  his  territory  situated  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  Oxus,  to  grant  the  Russians 
the  rights  of  navigation  and  commerce,  and 
to  submit  to  a  war  indemnity  that  exhausted 
his  finances.  The  Khans  that  had  yielded 
to  the  Russians  were  now  the  objects  of  the 
scorn  and  hatred  of  the  more  fanatical  among 
their  Mohammedan  subjects.  These  did  not 
cease  to  rise  in  revolt  against  them.  The  Khan 
75 


FURTHER  CONQUESTS 

of  Khokand  preferred  to  surrender  his  terri- 
tories to  Russia;  and  they  were  formed  into  the 
new  province  of  Ferghana,  in  1875.  The 
same  year,  the  Khan  of  Khiva  offered  to  surren- 
der his  in  exchange  for  a  pension.  The 
Russians  did  not  wish  to  annex  either  this 
khanate  or  that  of  Bokhara,  less  through  fear 
of  English  protests  than  because  the  existence 
of  two  vassal  Khans  would  allow  them  to 
conceal  the  better  their  political  plans.  They 
maintain  them  on  their  thrones  by  paying 
them  a  pension.  To-day,  the  Khan  of  Bokhara 
is  captain  of  a  regiment  of  Tnok  Cossacks, 
and  the  Khan  of  Khiva  is  lieutenant-general 
of  the  Orenburg  Cossacks. 

In  1851,  the  Russians  had  obtained  from 
China  some  commercial  advantages  in  the 
Kuldja  province.  Twenty  years  afterwards  a 
Mohammedan  ndvcntunT,  Yakub-Khaii,  seized 
the  Chinese  khanates  of  Kashgar  and  Yari<and, 
and  incited  a  Mohammedan  rebellion  in  Kuldja. 
The  Russians  entered  the  province,  giving 
76 


FURTHER  CONQUESTS 

China  to  understand  that  they  would  remain 
there  until  order  was  reestablished  (1871). 
They  would  gladly  have  annexed  it;  but  Chinese 
troops  had  been  despatched;  and,  after  years 
of  marching,  they  arrived  in  Kashgar  (where 
Yakub  had  been  assassinated  in  1877),  and 
upon  the  Kuldja  frontier.  The  Russians  first 
thought  of  resisting  the  troops  and  holding 
the  province;  but  the  territory  in  dispute  did 
not  seem  worth  the  risk  of  a  war  with  China. 
By  the  St.  Petersburg  Treaty  of  1881,  they 
gave  back  Kuldja,  except  one  district  on  the 
river  Hi,  and  renounced  their  military  position 
in  Kashgar  in  exchange  for  certain  commercial 
adva^itages. 

To  complete  the  conquest  of  Turkestan,  it 
remained  for  them  to  subdue  the  nomadic 
Turcomans  (Tekke-Turcomans).  This  was  the 
the  object  of  the  brilliant  campaigns  directed 
by  Skobelef,  who  carried  by  assault  the  fortress 
of  Geok-Tepe  on  January  24,  1881,  with  a 
loss  to  the  enemy  of  eight  thousand  men.  Then 
77 


FURTHER  CONQUESTS 

he    took    Askhabad,    which    was    afterwards 
ceded  by  Persia.' 

The  agreement  with  Persia  and  the  conquest 
of  Turkestan  brought  Russia's  power  to  the 
frontier  of  Afghanistan,  which  the  EngHsh 
regard  as  the  protecting  wall  of  their  Indian 
Empire.  At  every  forward  movement  of  the 
Russians,  they  protested  or  endeavored  to 
secure  guarantees  against  a  new  advance  or 
tried  to  gain  for  themselves  some  new  strategic 
point  that  would  strengthen  their  position. 
They  were  not  always  successful.  After  the 
first  siege  of  Herat  by  the  Persians,  in  1840, 
the  English  made  the  conquest  of  Kabul.  Their 
army  was  driven  out  by  an  insurrection,  and 
totally  annihilated  while  retreating  (1841). 
If,  to  save  their  honor,  they  afterwards  recap- 

(')  Colonel  Mallesson,  The  Russo- Afghan  Question, 
1864.  Sir  Henry  Kawlinson,  Later  Phases  of  the  Cen- 
tral Asia  Question,  1875.  Koiiropatkine,  Les  confines 
anglo-russes  (transhited  from  tlie  HiisHiun  by  O.  le 
Marchand),  Paris,  1879.  P.  Lessar,  La  Kussie  et 
I'  Anglcterre  en  Asie  Centrale,  Paris.  Marvin,  The  Rus- 
siann  at  Merv  and  Herat,  etc. 

78 


FURTHER  CONQUESTS 


tured  Kabul,  prudence  led  them  to  abandon 
it  as  quickly  as  possible  (1842),  After  the 
annexation  or  subjection  of  the  khanates  by 
the  Russians,  the  English  again  made  their 
way  into  Kabul,  and  left  there  a  resident  repre- 
sentative, Cavagnari;  but  a  popular  uprising,' 
in  1879,  brought  about  the  murder  of  Cavagnari 
and  eighty-seven  of  his  retinue.  The  expedi- 
tion sent  to  avenge  this  insult  was  led  by 
General  Roberts,*  since  then  Field  Marshal 
Lord  Roberts,  Commander  in  Chief  of  the 
English  Army.  This  expedition,  however, 
brought  about  as  little  definite  result  as  did 
the  former  intervention  in  Afghanistan. 

In  1881,  the  English  had  gained  from  the 
Russians  the  assurance  that  they  had  no 
intention  of  annexing  the  city  of  Merv,  a  very 
important  strategic  point;  but  in  1884,  the 
notables  of  that  city  presented  themselves  to 
the   Russian   Commander   at   Askhabad,    and 

(»)  Lord  Roberts  has  published  a  work,  Forty-one 
Years  in.  India. 

79 


FURTHER  CONQUESTS 

made  declaration  that  they  accepted  the  lord- 
ship of  ''the  White  Czar."  The  English 
made  complaint  to  the  cabinet  at  St.  Petersburg. 
They  were  answered  that  the  action  of  the 
people  of  Merv  had  been  a  surprise  to  the 
Russians  themselves;  but  that  they  believed 
that  they  would  have  committed  a  great  mistake 
by  rejecting  a  submission  that  was  so  entirely 
voluntary.  The  English  had  secured  the 
appointment  of  an  Anglo-Russian  commission 
for  settling  the  disputed  boundaries,  which 
was  to  decide  whether  Penjdeh,  another  very 
important  point,  belonged  to  their  client,  the 
Emir  of  Afghanistan,  or  to  the  Turcoman 
subjects  of  Russia.  The  English  commissioners, 
presided  over  by  General  Lumsden,  were  the 
first  to  arrive  at  the  i)lacc  of  meeting.  Tlu^y 
began  by  fortifying  Herat  and  inciting  the 
Afghans  to  seize  Penjdeh.  Seeing  this,  the 
chief  Russian  commissioner,  General  Komarof, 
at  the  head  of  a  strong  Russian  force,  occui)ied 
the  Zulfikar  Pass,  and  made  ready  to  march 
80 


FURTHER  CONQUESTS 

upon  Penjdeh.  While  on  the  way  thither, 
he  was  attacked  by  the  Afghans  at  Kushk. 
He  slew  five  hundred  of  their  men,  captured 
two  of  their  flags  and  all  their  artillery  (March 
30,  18S5).  Then  the  English  commissioners 
withdrew,  charging  Komarof  with  having  been 
the  aggressor.  Great  Britain  was  much  irritated. 
Gladstone,  who  had  the  Egyptian  Soudan  and 
the  Upper  Burmah  wars  on  his  hands,  called 
upon  Parliament  for  subsidies.  The  belief 
was  general  that  a  war  was  about  to  ensue 
between  ' '  the  whale  and  the  elephant. ' '  Then 
England  calmed  down,  and  accepted  the  explan- 
ation of  the  Russians,  that  the  fight  at  Kushk 
was  the  result  of  a  "  mistake. ' '  In  1885  and 
1887,  she  agreed  to  the  Russian  occupation 
of  Merv,  Penjdeh,  Kushk,  and  the  Zulfikar 
Pass.  The  Russians  were  now  within  one 
hundred  and  twenty  kilometres  of  Herat, 
known  for  so  long  a  time  as  the  "key  of  the 
Indies. ' ' 
The  question  of  the  settlement  of  the  bound- 
81 


FURTHER  CONQUESTS 

aries  was  scarcely  disposed  of,  when  another 
question  presented  itself  in  the  settlement  of 
the  boundaries  of  the  Pamirs.  These  form 
a  plateau  of  from  four  to  five  thousand  metres 
in  latitude,  known  as  ' '  the  roof  of  the  world, ' ' 
with  a  rigorous  climate  and  sparse  population. 
This  plateau  commands  both  Afghanistan  and 
Cashmere,  those  two  ramparts  of  India  and 
Chinese  Turkestan.  It  was  broken  up  into 
petty  khanates,  over  which  the  Khan  of  Bokhara, 
the  vassal  of  the  Russians,  and  the  Emir  of 
Afghanistan,  the  client  of  the  English,  laid 
claim  to  sovereignty.  Neither  of  them  had 
recognized  until  then  the  value  of  the  territory. 
An  "expedition  for  study,"  accompanied  by 
six  hundred  Russian  soldiers,  made  its  appear- 
ance in  Pamir  in  the  summer  of  1891,  and 
aroused,  by  its  presence  there,  the  protests  of 
the  English.  At  the  approach  of  winter,  the 
Russians  withdrew;  but  they  again  appeared 
the  following  summer,  in  larger  numbers,  under 
the  connnund  of  (aAoiw]  Yuiiof.  They  contended 
82 


FURTHER  CONQUESTS 

that  they  were  insulted  by  the  Afghans,  for 
which  they  inflicted  upon  them  the  bloody 
defeat  of  Somatash  (July  12),  after  which 
they  fell  back  and  took  up  their  position  at 
Kalabery  on  the  Oxus.  This  clash  of  arms 
was  succeeded  by  a  diplomatic  controversy. 
It  was  not  until  1895,  after  a  keen  discussion 
between  the  two  great  powers,  each  contending 
for  its  own  client,  that  they  reached  an  agreement. 
The  disputed  region  was  divided  between 
Bokhara  and  Afghanistan,  the  former  receiving 
the  little  khanates  of  Shugnan  and  Roschan, 
and  the  latter  the  khanate  of  Wakhan,  a  narrow 
strip  of  territory,  from  twenty  to  thirty  kilo- 
metres wide,  which  now  forms  ' '  a  buffer  state ' ' 
between  the  two  great  empires  of  Russia  and 
Great  Britain.  Even  after  this  agreement, 
Russia  found  a  pretext  in  1899  for  occupying 
the  district  of  Sirikul,  which  belongs  to  Chinese 
Pamir,  and  which  commands  the  source  of 
the  Kashgar  and  Yarkand  Rivers  (March,  1889). 
Great  Britain  having  occupied  in  Arabia 
83 


FURTHER  CONQUESTS 

the  island  of  Perini  in  the  imamate  of  Muscat, 
in  order  to  control  the  outlet  of  the  Red  Sea, 
and  to  establish  a  coaling  station  in  her  maritime 
route,  Russia,  in  1899,  also  endeavored  to 
obtain  from  the  Imam  the  grant  of  a  coaling 
station  on  his  coast.  From  this  arose  new 
complaints  and  strenuous  opposition  on  the 
part  of  England.  Russia  also  established  her- 
self, under  color  of  orthodox  proselytism,  at 
a  point  quite  as  annoying  to  British  interests, 
on  the  coast,  and  at  the  very  capital  of  Menelik, 
Emperor  of  Abyssinia.  A  first  attempt  in  this 
direction  was  made  in  1889  by  a  Russian 
adventurer,  calling  himself  Achinof,  "the 
free  Cossack."  He  took  possession  of  the 
dismantled  fort  of  Sugallo  on  the  territory  of 
the  French  colony  of  Obock.  The  former 
" anoumidd  of  Sugallo"  drove  him  away,  and 
the  Russian  government  disavowed  his  action. 
The  mission  of  Lieut(>nant  Machkof  (1889- 
1892),  and  the  so-called  "scientific  mission" 
of  Captain  Lc'onlicf  in  1891,  thanks  to  the 
84 


FURTHER  CONQUESTS 

ready  assistance  of  the  French  authorities, 
succeeded  much  better.  Thus  was  Russian 
influence,  in  close  harmony  with  French  influ- 
ence, estabhshed  almost  upon  the  British  Nile. 
In  1898,  the  Russian  Colonel,  Artamonof,  with 
some  Abyssinain  troops,  endeavored  to  meet 
Major  Marchand,who  was  moving  upon  Fashoda, 
and  to  reinforce  him  on  the  great  river. 

The  English  alternate  between  doubting  and 
believing  that  these  expansive  movements  of 
Russia  by  way  of  the  Caucasus,  by  way  of 
Turkestan,  and  by  way  of  the  Pamirs,  are  all 
directed  towards  one  goal,  the  very  one  that 
the  Czar  Paul  proposed  to  the  first  Consul 
Bonaparte  in  1800;  Alexander  I.  to  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  (1807);  and  General  Duhamel  to 
Nicholas  I.  (1855),  and  the  ardent  Skobelef  to 
his  goverrmient.  To  many  intelligent  English- 
men, the  goal  of  so  much  effort  can  be  no  other 
than  the  conquest  of  India.  Now  that  the 
frontier  of  the  Russian  Pamir  is  not  more  than 
twenty  or  thirty  kilometres  from  the  kingdom 
85 


FURTHER  CONQUESTS 

of  Cashmere,  and  now  that  Kushk,  the  ter- 
minus of  the  Turkestan  railroad  system,  is  only 
one  hundred  and  twenty  kilometres  from 
Herat,  the  problem  of  invading  India  is  infi- 
nitely more  easy  than  it  was  in  the  time  of 
Bonaparte  and  Paul  I.  Why  have  the  Rus- 
sians spent  so  much  money  and  blood  in  the 
conquest  of  the  impoverished  and  barbarous 
nations  of  those  sandy  deserts  and  almost  inac- 
cessible mountains,  if  they  did  not  have  before 
them,  as  a  recompense  for  their  sacrifices, 
what  Paul  I.  called  "all  the  riches  of  the 
Indies." 

A  recent  historian  of  Russian  expansion/ 
Alexis  Krause,  reviewing  all  the  hardships 
endured  by  Russia  and  the  thankless  task  that 
she  has  assumed,  adds,  "On  its  own  account, 
the  conquest  of  Central  Asia  is  worthless.  It 
is  not  done  in  ignorance,  but  by  carefully 
thought-out  design,   as  part  of  a  programme, 

(')  Alexia  KmiiHO,  Russia  in  Asia,  a  Record  and  a 
Study,  London  and  New  York,  1899. 

86 


FURTHER  CONQUESTS 

the  execution  of  which  its  possession  will 
assist.  The  capture  of  the  khanates  was 
attempted,  not  as  a  pathway  towards  the 
coveted  Persian  Gulf,  but  as  a  road  which 
would  lead  to  the  Pan  jab  and  all  that  is  beyond. 
And  now  that  preliminary  steps  have  been  com- 
pleted, the  serious  undertaking  is  about  to  be 
begun." 

James  MacGahan,  one  of  the  best  informed 
men  on  Eastern  affairs,  wrote  from  the  shores 
of  the  Oxus  in  1876:  "The  Russians  are  steadily 
advancing  towards  India,  and  they  will,  sooner 
or  later,  acquire  a  position  in  Central  Asia 
which  will  enable  them  to  threaten  it.  Should 
England  be  engaged  in  a  European  war,  then, 
indeed,  Russia  will  probably  strike  a  blow  at 
England's  Indian  power." 

Other  Englishmen  pretend  to  believe  that 
the  hypothesis  of  a  conquest  of  India  "is  too 
preposterous  to  be  entertained.  It  would 
involve  the  most  terrible  and  lingering  war  the 
world  has  ever  seen.  On  the  day  that  a  Rus- 
87 


FURTHER  CONQUESTS 

sian  army  leaves  Balkh  or  Herat  for  Kaiulahar, 
well  may  the  British  commander  exclaim: 
'Now  hath  the  Lord  delivered  them  into  my 
hand!'  " 

It  is  thus  that  Lord  Curzon,  the  present  Gov- 
ernor-General of  India,  expresses  himself.  It 
seems,  however,  that  he  is  but  assuming  a  tone 
of  assured  certainty  to  conceal  his  deep  anxiety. 
This  plan  of  conquest  that  he  considers  "too 
preposterous  to  be  entertained,"  has  been  dis- 
cussed by  other,  and  very  competent  persons, 
who  do  not  reach  conclusions  so  optimistic  as 
regards  Great  Britain.'  Perhaps,  however,  the 
Russians  are  at  present  pressing  so  closely 
towards  the  frontier  of  l^ritish  India  in  order 
(()  have  at  their  disposal  a  means  of  intimida- 
tion, or  even  of  coercion,  for  us(>  in  those 
very  frequent  occasions  in  which  Great  Britain 
sets  herself  in  stubborn  opposition  to  Russia's 
plans  in  other  parts  of  \hc  world.     I'or,  at.  the 

(•)   Maximiliftn  Graf  Yorck   von     WartonhiirK,     Das 
Vordrimjcn  dcr  Ruasischcn  Macht  in  Aaien,  Berlin,  1900. 

88 


FURTHER  CONQUESTS 

present  moment,  the  Czar  Nicholas  11.  seems 
much  more  interested  in  expansion  in  the 
Far  East  than  in  any  movement  towards  the 
south  of  Asia. 


89 


THE    EXPANSION  OF  RUSSIA    IN 
THE  FAR  EAST.^ 

The  Opening  of  Siberia — Value  op  Siberia — 
Chinese  Wars — Settlements  on  the  Pacific 
— Chinese  Cessions — Vladivostock — Russian  In- 
fluence  AT  Pekin. 

The  eastward  expansion  of  Russia  through 
the  solitudes  of  Siberia  and  among  its  barbar- 
ous tribes  began  about  the  close  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  immediately  after  the  conquest 
of  the  Tartar  czarates  of  Kazan  and  Astrakhan. 
It  was  between  the  years  1579  and  1584  that 
the  Cossack,  Irmak  Timofevitch,  fleeing  from 
the  punishment  of  the  law  and  the  wrath  of 
the  Czar,  Ivan  the  Terrible,  with  a  handful  of 
brigands  like  himself,  Russians,  Cossacks,  Tar- 
tars, German  and  Polish  prisoners  of  war,   to 

(>)  Krahmer,  Jiussland  in  Asicn,  vol.  iii.  SUnrirn  und 
die  gros.ir  Ribirische.  Eisrnhahn.  vol.  iv.  lius.tland  in 
(M-Asirn,  Leipzig,  1897,  1898.  Lcgros,  La  Sib,'rie. 
Paris,   1899. 

00 


RUSSIA  IN  THE  FAR  EAST 

the  number  of  six  hundred  and  fifty  men, 
crossed  the  Ural,  traversed  the  immense, 
untrodden  forests  of  the  Tobol,  defeated  the 
Tartar  Khan,  Kutchum,  took  Sibir,  his  capital, 
and  subjected  to  tribute  the  tribes  of  the 
Irtysh  and  the  Obi.  When  Irmak  Timo- 
fevitch  was  drowned  in  the  Irtysh,  dragged  to 
the  bottom  of  the  river  by  the  weight  of  the 
cuirass  given  him  by  the  Czar,  Russia  made  a 
hero,  and  the  Orthodox  Church  a  saint,  of  the 
old  outlaw.  Along  the  pathways  that  he  had 
marked  out,  there  soon  followed  a  stream  of 
"good  fellows"  of  every  description,  gold- 
seekers,  fur-hunters,  and  peasants  fleeing  the 
estates  of  their  feudal  lords  in  search  of  gov- 
ernment lands  that  they  might  cultivate  as 
freemen.  Hither  also  flocked  religious  dissent- 
ers, persecuted  by  the  Orthodox  Church,  who 
found  a  shelter  in  the  immensity  of  the  Siberian 
forest,  retreats  concealed  from  all  mankind. 
Into  this  same  wilderness  escaped  the  German, 
Polish,  and  Swedish  prisoners  of  war  of  Peter  I. 
91 


RUSSIA  IN  THE  FAR  EAST 

and  of  Catherine  II.     Then,  in  long,  wretched 

troops  came  in  chains  or  in  fetters  the  unhappy 

serfs  deported  by  their  masters,  often  bearing 

the   marks   of   cruel   beating   and   mutilation; 

their  sides  scarred  by  the  knout,  and  nostrils 

or  tongue  cut  by  the  executioner;   strewing  the 

highways  with  their  corpses.     This  barbarous 

feature  of  the  old  Russian  penal  code  came  to 

an  end  at  the  close  of  the  last  century,  and  it  is 

known  that  the  present  Czar,  Nicholas  II.,  has 

suppressed  deportation  into  Siberia  for  common 

law  crimes  in  order  to  purify  that  colony  of  a 

reproach  like  to  that  against  which  the  English 

colonics    of    Australia    long    protested.     The 

rapidity  with  which  colonization  of  every  kind 

was   spread   over    the    millions    of    kilometers 

which  the  immensity  of  Siberia  measures,  Is 

shown  by  the  dates  of  the  founding  of  the  prin 

cipal   towns:    Tobolsk  on   the  Tobol  in   1587; 

Tomsk  on  the  Toms,  a  branch  of  the  Obi,  in 

1604;    Yeniseisk  on  the  Yenisei  in  1619;   Ya- 

koutsk  in  1632;   Atchinsk  in  1642;  Nertchinsk 

92 


RUSSIA  IN  THE  FAR  EAST 

on  the  Shilka,  a  branch  of  the  Amur,  in  1654; 
Okhotsk  on  the  sea  of  the  same  name  in  1638. 
Siberia,  even  to  our  own  times,  has  been 
valuable  mainly  on  account  of  its  immense 
extent  and  the  liberty  that  free  immigrants 
have  found  there.  It  may  be  divided  into 
three  divisions:  in  the  north,  the  toundra, 
marshy  in  summer,  a  mass  of  ice  in  winter;  in 
the  centre,  the  taiga,  or  forest,  dear  to  the 
hunter;  in  the  south,  the  cultivated  region,  of 
an  area  thrice  that  of  all  France.  Even  this 
last  division,  except  in  the  districts  where  the 
"black  earth"  is  found,  is  not  characterized  by 
a  fertility  that  redeems  the  severity  of  a  climate, 
extreme  in  its  summer  heat  as  in  its  winter 
cold.  In  the  seventeenth  century  a  belief  was 
current  that  the  region  about  the  Amur  was, 
on  the  contrary,  of  great  fertility,  a  belief  which 
experience  has  shown  to  be  ill-founded.  It 
was,  therefore,  in  this  direction  that  the  most 
venturesome  Cossacks  and  the  most  energetic 
settlers  hastened.  They  were  not  disturbed  by 
93 


RUSSIA  IN  THE  FAR  EAST 

the  fact  that  the  country  belonged  to  the 
Chinese  Emperor.  In  1649,  a  young  officer 
named'  Khabarof,  undertook  to  descend  the 
still  unexplored  river,  building  forts  at  the 
junction  of  the  tributaries,  conquering  rebel- 
lious tribes  of  natives,  and  fighting  troops  of 
Manchurian  horsemen  (1649-1652).  In  1658, 
Pachkof,  governor  of  Yeniseik,  founded  Nert- 
chinsk  on  the  Shilka,  a  branch  of  the  Amur. 
Five  years  later  Albasin  was  founded.  This 
was  a  fortress  with  ramparts  of  wood,  and  in 
its  vicinity  there  arose  many  Russian  villages. 
Finally,  the  Chinese,  irritated  at  seeing  these 
adventurers  assume  rulorship  over  them,  several 
times  attacked  Albasin  with  armies  of  from  fif- 
teen to  twenty  thousand  men;  but  were  invari- 
ably repulsed.  Upon  receiving  tidings  of  these 
events,  the  court  at  Moscow  sent  envoys  to 
that  of  Pckin  with  a  letter  written  in  Latin 
and  in  Russian.  After  long  deliberation  at 
Nertchinsk  a  treaty  was  signed  in  that  city,  in 
1689,  in  accordance  with  the  terms  of  which 
94 


RUSSIA  IN  THE  FAR  EAST 

the  heroic  fort  of  Albasin  was  to  be  razed; 
and  the  frontier  between  the  two  empires  was 
definitely  fixed  as  it  continued  to  be  observed 
by  both  countries  down  to  the  treaties  of  1858. 
On  their  side,  the  Russians  renounced  further 
forcible  encroachment  and  settlement  on  Chi- 
nese territory;  but  they  did  not  renounce  their 
efforts  to  gain  a  foothold  by  commerce,  reli- 
gious mission  work,  and  diplomacy  in  the  Middle 
Kingdom,  and  even  in  Pekin  itself.  The  Rus- 
sians that  had  been  made  prisoners  at  Albasin, 
or  in  battles  at  other  places,  had  been  taken  to 
the  capital  of  the  empire.  Some  of  them  had 
established  themselves  there  as  artisans  or 
merchants;  others  formed  the  Russian  guard 
of  the  "Son  of  Heaven."  At  Moscow  it  was 
known  that  these  men  were  well  treated  at 
Pekin,  but  that  they  had  neither  church  nor 
priest  of  their  religion.  Peter  the  Great  resolved 
to  send  an  embassy  to  Pekin  to  secure  satisfac- 
tory concessions  on  this  point.  This,  indeed,  was 
the  object  of  a  mission  entrusted  to  Eberhard 
95 


RUSSIA  IN  THE  FAR  EAST 

Ysbrand,  who  reached  Pekiu  in  1693,  and  there 
obtained  what  the  Czar  wished.  In  1721, 
Tsmai'lof  was  despatched  to  the  Chinese  capital 
to  secure  from  the  Emperor  Kanghi  the  privi- 
lege of  establishing  there  a  permanent  Russian 
legation.  He  gave  the  Bodgy-Khan  a  letter 
from  the  Czar  and  left  M.  de  Lange  as  charg6 
d'affaires;  but  the  latter  almost  immediately 
after  Tsmailof's  departure  was  dismissed  by 
the  Chinese  court.  In  1727,  a  treaty  that 
secured  greater  commercial  privileges  for  the 
Russians  was  signed  at  Kiakhta.  In  1806, 
Golovine,  another  envoy,  was  sent  to  Pekin 
with  a  view  to  obtaining  the  free  navigation  of 
the  Amur  River,  This  mission  failed;  never- 
theless the  position  of  Russia  in  the  Asiatic 
East  was  continually  growing  stronger.  In 
1807,  they  had  annexed  the  peninsula  of  Kam- 
tchatka.  In  1847,  Count  Nicholas  Muravief, 
who  was  U)  win  the  surname  of  Amourski, 
became  governor  of  l<]astern  {^iberia,  and  set 
himself  to  develop  ;iii(l  strengthen  the  colony. 
96 


RUSSIA  IN  THE  FAR  EAST 

He  perceived  that  it  would  have  no  future  if 
possession  was  not  secured  of  the  chief  river 
and  the  richest  province  of  the  region,  that  is, 
of  the  Amur  and  of  Manchuria,  The  river  was 
still  so  incompletely  known  that  the  Grand 
Chancellor  Nesselrode  declared  to  the  Emperor 
Nicholas  that  its  outlet  was  inaccessible.  In 
1848,  a  Cossack  expedition,  under  Vaganof, 
perished  without  the  escape  of  a  single  person 
to  tell  the  tale.  Two  years  afterwards  Captain 
Nevelskoi  discovered  that  Saghalin  is  really  an 
island,  separated  from  the  mainland  by  the 
channel  or  strait  of  Tartary,  and,  in  the  course 
of  his  exploration,  came  upon  the  mouth  of  the 
Amur,  entered  it  in  a  small  boat,  and  planted 
the  Russian  flag  on  its  banks;  proclaiming  to 
the  natives  that  the  country  belonged  to  the 
"White  Czar"  at  St.  Petersburg.  The  Grand 
Chancellor  was  terrified  at  Nevelskoi's  audacity; 
he  already  saw  himself  at  war  with  China;  he 
insisted  that  the  daring  captain's  action  be  dis- 
countenanced, but  the  Emperor  replied:  "When 
97 


RUSSIA  IN  THE  FAR  EAST 

Russia's  flag  has  been  raised  anywhere  it 
should  not  be  taken  down."  On  his  part, 
Governor  Muravief  endeavored  to  persuade  the 
local  mandarins  that  the  best  thing  to  do  was 
to  leave  the  Russians  alone.  The  Chinese 
demanded  that  negotiations  be  entered  upon 
with  their  Emperor;  Muravief  thought  that 
Pekin  was  too  far  away  for  that  and  that 
Chinese  diplomacy  was  too  slow.  He  continued 
to  act,  therefore,  as  if  the  country  was  already 
a  Russian  province,  and  strengthened  his  posi- 
tion by  building  along  the  river  the  forts 
Alexandrovsk,  Mikhailovsk,  and  Nicolaicvsk,— 
all  of  these,  baptismal  names  of  the  royal  family. 
P6tropavlosk,  on  the  southeast  coast  of  Kam- 
tchatka,  had  been  established  in  1740.  Other 
fortresses  arose  at  the  junction  of  the  several 
principal  tributaries  of  the  Amur  River.  "The 
Amur  will  be  the  death  of  you,"  said  the 
Kmporor  Nicholas  jestingly  to  Muravief. 

During  the  Crimean  War  the  Anglo-French 
fleet  blockaded  the  Russian  Pacific  coast,  and 
98 


RUSSIA  IN  THE  FAR  EAST 

destroyed  a  part  of  the  military  establishments 
and  of  the  infant  marine.  This  blockade,  by 
threatening  to  starve  out  the  colony,  only 
hastened  a  decision  upon  the  part  of  Muravief, 
who  had  need  of  Manchuria  to  furnish  food  for 
his  colonists.  Its  annexation  was  already  an 
accomplished  fact,  when,  in  1857,  Admiral 
Putiatin  dropped  anchor  in  the  Gulf  of  Pechili 
and  proposed  to  the  Chinese  Emperor,  in  con- 
sideration of  Russia's  armed  intervention  in 
the  Taiping  rebellion,  the  cession  of  Manchuria. 
China's  only  reply  was  a  vigorous  protest 
against  Russian  encroachment.  War  seemed 
imminent  between  the  two  empires.  Fortu- 
nately for  Russia,  just  at  that  time  came  the 
Anglo-French  expedition  and  the  march  of  the 
allies  upon  Pekin.  The  Russians  profited  by 
this  event  to  complete  the  annexation  of  the 
coveted  territory.  The  Czar  sent  a  fleet  into 
the  Chinese  waters,  and  the  Celestials  did  not 
relish  having  a  third  European  power  to  deal 
with.  By  the  Treaties  of  Aigun  and  Tientsin 
99 


RUSSIA  IN  THE  FAR  EAST 

in  1858,  they  granted  to  Russia  the  entire  left 
bank  of  the  Amur,  the  entire  territory  between 
that  river  and  the  ocean  as  well  as  its  tributary 
stream,  the  Ossuri,  the  bay  on  which  there  was, 
in  time,  to  rise  the  fortress  of  Vladivostock, 
with  its  prophetic  name  (Dominator  of  the 
East).  These  newly  acquired  lands  formed 
two  provinces,  the  Amur  Province  and  the 
Maritime  Province.  By  the  Treaty  of  Pekin,  in 
1860,  China  ceded  to  Russia  the  region  adjacent 
to  the  lakes  Balkash  and  Issik-kul;  the  boundary 
line  between  Manchuria  and  Siberia  was  re- 
adjusted, and  the  Russians  were  granted  the 
right  to  trade  in  all  parts  of  the  empire.  Fifteen 
years  more,  and  Russia  obtained  from  Japan 
the  abandonment  of  the  latter's  rights  over 
Saghalin  in  exchange  for  the  North  Kurile  Isles, 
For  nearly  thirty  years  the  boundary  between 
China  and  Russia  remained  as  agreed  upon  in 
the  treaties  of  1858  and  1800.  But  already 
the  commercial  and  political  activity  of  (he 
Russians  was  overstepi)ing  it.  They  had  cstab- 
100 


RUSSIA  IN  THE  FAR  EAST 

lished  themselves  in  large  numbers  in  the 
cities  of  Chinese  Manchuria, — in  Kiakhta, 
Mukden,  Kirin,  and  Tsitsihar,  the  residence  of 
the  mandarin-governor.  The  navigation  of 
the  Ossuri  and  the  Sungari  Rivers  fell  wholly 
into  their  hands.  The  steamships  of  the  Amur 
Company  put  Russia  in  rapid  communication 
with  Japan  and  San  Francisco.  "Scientific 
Missions"  traversed  China  in  all  directions. 
At  Pekin  the  Russian  colony  acquired  a  con- 
tinually greater  importance  and  the  ambas- 
sador of  the  Czar  wielded  more  influence  at 
court  than  the  representatives  of  any  other 
European  power.  His  open  handed  liberality 
won  him  the  favor  of  the  courtiers,  the  man- 
darins, and  the  generals.  In  all  the  sea  and 
river  ports,  the  colonies  of  Russian  merchants 
multiplied,  and  these  seemed  to  live  on  better 
terms  with  the  native  population  than  the 
traders  of  other  foreign  nations.  On  the 
arrival  of  the  Czarovitch,  in  1891,  he  was 
honored  with  a  series  of  royal  entertainments. 
101 


COREA. 

The  China-Japan  War — Interference  op  Russia — 
Conflict  With  Japanese  Interests — Russia's 
Gain. 

China  and  Japan,  "The  Middle  Kingdom," 
and  "The  Land  of  the  Rising  Sun,"  the  Bogdy- 
Khan  and  the  Mikado,  had  disputed  with  each 
other  for  a  long  time,  the  protectorate  of  the 
kingdom  of  Corea.  War  broke  out  between 
the  two  empires  in  the  July  of  1894.  The 
Japanese  troops,  drilled  and  equipped  in  the 
European  manner,  were  everywhere  victorious. 
Their  warships,  built  in  the  best  shipyards  of 
Europe,  sank  \]\v  Chinese  vessels.  The  Japan- 
ese occupied  all  Corea,  stormed  and  captured 
Port  Arthur,  conciuered  a  part  of  Chinese 
Manchuria,  captured  Wei-hai-Wei,  threatened 
Pekin,  and  finally  imposed  upon  China  the 
Treaty  of  Shimonosaki,  April  17,  1895.  China 
102 


COREA 

was  compelled  to  renounce  all  her  claims  with 
respect  to  Corea;  to  give  to  her  conquerors  the 
Island  of  Formosa,  the  Pescadores,  the  pen- 
insula of  Liao-tung,  with  Port  Arthur  and 
Talien-Wan,  to  open  five  new  ports,  including 
Pekin,  to  their  commerce;  to  grant  them  the 
right  to  open  manufacturing  establishments 
in  the  empire;  and  to  pay  a  war  indemnity 
of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  millions. » 

The  success  of  the  Japanese  had  been  so 
rapid  that  all  the  European  powers  were  sur- 
prised at  this  sudden  revelation  of  such  a 
military  and  naval  strength  in  the  hands  of 
the  Mikado.  England,  at  first  hostile  and 
malevolent,  hastened  to  show  more  friendly 
feelings  for  the  conqueror;  the  United  States 
concluded  a  commercial  treaty  with  the  Jap- 
anese government;  and  all  the  plans  that 
Russia  had  formed  for  supremacy  in  the  Far 


(>)  Vladimir,  The  China-Japan  War,  compiled  from 
Japanese,  Chinese,  and  Foreign  Sources,  London,  Samp- 
son Low,  1896. 

103 


COREA 

East  were  threatened  with  failure.  She  could 
not  allow  either  Wei-hai-AVei  or  the  peninsula 
of  Liao-tung,  with  the  harbors  that  she  had 
so  long  coveted,  to  remain  in  the  hands  of  the 
Japanese.  Should  she  do  so,  she  would  see 
herself  relegated  to  the  ports  of  Siberia  and 
Northern  Manchuria,  closed  by  ice  for  a  part 
of  the  year,  and  her  hope  of  unfolding  her  colors 
in  the  seas  of  the  Far  East  taken  from  her. 
She  could  not  permit  that  the  influence  of 
triumphant  Japan  should  be  substituted  at 
Pc^kin  for  her  own  influence,  already  dating 
back  a  century  or  more.  It  was  necessary, 
at  any  cost,  even  should  it  mean  war,  to  pre- 
vent the  provisions  of  the  Shimonosaki  Treaty 
being  carried  out.  She  was  successful  in 
enlisting  the  cociperation  of  two  states  which, 
although  antagonistic  to  eacli  othcM-,  had 
reasons  for  keeping  tlu;  good-will  of  liussia. 
These  three  i)owers: — Russia,  France  and  Ger- 
many,— formed  what  might  be  called  "A 
Triple  Alliance  of  the  Far  East."  They  for- 
104 


COREA 

warded  to  the  court  at  Tokyo  some  "friendly 
advice"  regarding  the  giving  up  of  claims  that 
might  bring  about  a  general  conflagration. 
It  was  hard  for  Japan  to  renounce  the  Liao- 
tung  peninsula,  with  its  harbors  of  Port  Arthur, 
Talien-Wan,  and  Wei-hai-Wei,  that  had  been 
conquered  at  the  price  of  its  blood,  and  by 
such  brilHant  victories;  but  the  Japanese 
armies  were  on  the  Chinese  mainland;  the 
three  powers  were  masters  of  the  sea;  and 
thus  the  island  empire  was  left  almost  without 
defence.  The  three  protesting  powers  had  the 
advantage.  Russia,  in  the  deliberations  over 
the  revision  of  the  treaty,  showed  such  pas- 
sionate insistence  that  twice.  May  5,  and 
«  May  8,  Admiral  Tyrtof  made  all  preparations 
to  meet  the  Japanese  fleet,  which  probably 
would  have  gone  to  the  bottom.^  By  the  Treaty 
of  Tokyo,  May  8,  1895,  Japan  agreed  to  give 
up  the  Liao-tung  and  Wei-hai-Wei;  to  be 
satisfied  with  Formosa  and  the  Pescadores, 
positions  of  the  utmost  importance  in  the 
O  This  was  written  in  1900. 

X05 


COREA 

Pacific;    and  to  receive  the  war  indemnity  and 
certain  commercial  privileges. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  Russia  had  just  inflicted 
upon  Japan  the  treatment  that  she  herself 
had  received  from  the  European  powers, 
after  so  many  splendid  victories  over  the 
Turks.  It  was  under  the  pressure  of  a  "Euro- 
pean Concert"  that  Japan  lost  the  most  precious 
fruits  of  her  success  against  the  Chinese,  just 
as  the  Russian  conquerors  of  the  Ottomans 
had  lost  theirs.  Russia  set  up  against  Japan 
the  principle  of  the  integrity  of  the  Chinese 
Empire  in  exactly  the  same  way  that  the 
powers  had  imposed  upon  her  the  principle 
of  the  preservation  of  the  Turkish  Empire. 
The  Treaty  of  Tokyo  in  1S95,  modified  the 
Treat}''  of  Shinionosaki  as  completely  as  had 
the  Treaty  of  Berlin  modified  that  of  San 
Stefano  in  1878.  And  just  as  Russia,  in  1878, 
has  had  the  mortification  of  seeing  her  polit- 
ical foes,  Austria  and  England,  enrich  them- 
selves with  the  spoils  of  that  very  Turkish 
106 


COREA 

Empire  that  they  pretended  to  protect  against 
her  covetousness,  laying  their  hands,  the  one 
on  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  and  the  other 
upon  the  island  of  Cyprus;  so  Japan  soon  had 
the  mortification  of  seeing  Russia  violate,  for 
her  own  profit,  that  very  principle  of  the  con- 
tinental integrity  of  the  Chinese  Empire  that 
she  had  set  up  against  Japanese  ambition. 


107 


CHINA. 

Russian  Concessions — Port  Arthur — Railways — 
Loans — Corea — Germany — Great  Britain — The 
United  States. 

England  and  France,  the  former  in  par- 
ticular, obtained  from  China  numerous  import- 
ant concessions';  but  of  more  value  were  those 
that  Russia  secured.  By  the  convention  of 
June,  1895,  China  contracted  with  her,  through 
the  intermediary  of  the  Russo-Chinese  bank, 
recently  established  at  St.  Petersburg,  and 
under  the  direction  of  Count  Oukhtomski 
whose  Oriental  policy  we  know,  a  loan  of  four 
hundred  million  francs  at  four  per  cent.,  pay- 
able in  thirty-six  years.  On  October  25,  1896, 
this    same    bank    made    another    agreement 

(«)  R.  I.  Pinon  et  J.  do  Marcillac,  La  Chine  qui  s'ouvre 
Paris,  1900.  Pierre  Leroy-Bcaulieii,  La  renovation  de 
I'Afiie:  Siberie,  Chine,  J  npon,  Vans,  \900.  Chas.  Bcres- 
ford,  The  Break-  Up  of  China,  London  and  New  York, 
1899 

108 


CHINA 

with  the  Pekin  government.  This  agreement, 
ratified  by  the  Czar,  became,  on  December 
26,  the  Treaty  of  St.  Petersburg.  It  gave 
the  Eastern  Chinese  Raihoad  Company  the 
right  to  build  a  road  through  Chinese  Man- 
churia, making  it  a  branch  fine  of  the  Rus- 
sian Trans-Siberian  Railroad;  to  develop 
coal  and  other  mines  in  the  territory  trav- 
ersed by  the  road,  and  to  devote  itself  to  all 
other  industrial  and  commercial  enterprises. 
The  stock  of  the  company  can  be  held  by 
Chinese  and  Russians  only,  which  means  that 
it  will  fall  almost  exclusively  into  the  hands 
of  the  Russians.  A  special  clause  authorized 
the  Czar  to  station  in  Manchuria  both  infantry 
and  cavalry  for  the  protection  of  the  railroad. 
This  was  the  disguised  annexation  of  all  the 
part  of  the  vast  province  that  had  not  already 
been  ceded  to  Russia  in  1858  and  1860.  Fur- 
thermore, China  leased  to  Russia  for  fifteen 
years  a  harbor  in  the  province  of  Shantung, 
and  finally,  Russian  warships  were  given  the 
109 


CHINA 

privileges  of  the  two  harbors  of  Liao-tung 
peninsula,   Port  Arthur  and  Talien-Wan. 

March  27,  1898,  there  was  formulated  a 
new  agreement  between  the  two  countries. 
Port  Arthur  and  Talien-Wan  and  all  thcnr 
dependencies  were  leased  to  Russia  for  a  term 
of  twenty-five  years.  With  this  was  granted 
the  privilege  of  building  through  the  Liao- 
tung  peninsula  a  railroad  from  Vladivostock 
to  Port  Arthur,  which  is  merely  another  branch 
of  the  Trans-Siberian  road. 

Nor  is  this  all.  According  to  a  still  more 
recent  agreement,  a  Russian  railroad  is  to  be 
built  from  Mukden  in  Manchuria  to  Pckin. 
Another  Russian  company  is  to  construct  a 
system  of  Chinese  railroads,  the  three  principal 
lines  of  which,  setting  out  from  P(>kin,  are  to 
traverse,  the  first  two,  the  i)n)viiic(\s  of  Shansi 
and  lloiiaii,  the  third,  (li(>  jjrovincc  of  IIuiu' 
and  to  terminate  at  Hankow  on  the  Yaiig- 
tse-kiang.  Against  this  third  railroad,  Eng- 
land made  a  vigorous  |)rotost.  In  her  treaties 
IIU 


CHINA 

with  China,  she  had  secured  for  herself  the 
building  of  railroads  and  the  commerce  of  the 
valley  of  the  Yang-tse,  and  here  the  Russians 
were  coming  to  cut  ofT  her  railroads,  and  in 
the  very  heart  of  China  to  draw  off  the  mer- 
chandise that  she  was  counting  upon  to  export 
by  sea,  and  which  was  now  likely  to  be  carried 
by  the  Trans-Siberian  line.  After  having 
secured  the  defeat  at  Pekin  of  the  propo- 
sitions of  a  Franko-Russian  syndicate,  she 
encouraged  two  Chinese  of  high  rank  to  apply 
for  a  contract  to  build  the  debated  railroad. 
They  found  themselves  unable  to  raise  the 
necessary  funds,  and  it  was  then  that  Russia, 
thanks  to  the  energy  of  Count  Oukhtomski, 
had  the  franchise  transferred  to  a  Franco- 
Belgian  company. 

Nevertheless,  in  November,  1897,  Russia 
had  neither  the  ability  nor  the  wish  to  pre- 
vent the  Germans  from  landing  in  the  bay 
of  Kiao-chow  which  she  seemed  to  have  re- 
served for  herself,  or  from  securing  a  lease 
111 


CHINA 

of  it  for  ninety-nine  years.  Neither  could 
she  hinder  the  English,  incensed  at  the  action 
of  the  Germans,  from  obtaining,  in  April, 
1898,  a  lease  of  the  harbor  and  bay  of  Wei- 
hai-Wei,  evacuated  by  the  Japanese.  It  thus 
happens  that  in  the  Pechili  Gulf,  from  which 
Pekin  receives  the  greater  part  of  its  supplies, 
three  European  powers  occupy  places  very 
near  one  another;  the  Russians  at  Port  Arthur 
and  Talien-Wan,  the  Germans  at  Kiao-chow, 
and  the  English  at  Wei-hai-Wei.  The  Pechili 
Gulf  has  become  another  Mediterranean,  on 
whose  shores  rival  Asiatic  interests  continue 
the  rivalries  of  Europe.  The  position  of  Russia 
is  much  the  strongest.  She  commands  Pckin, 
not  merely  by  sea,  but  by  all  the  overland 
highways.  She  alone  of  the  three  rival  powers 
in  the  Pechili  Gulf  possesses  a  vast  continental 
base  of  operations.  She  fronts  China  along  a 
boundary  line  several  thousand  miles  in  length; 
she  cmbraccvs  and  pcuietrates  China  ;  and  she 
alone  by  her  railroads,  the  Trans-Siberian, 
112 


CHINA 

the  Trans-Manchurian,  and  the  Trans-Chinese, 
will  be  able  to  pour  into  the  very  center  of 
China  and  into  its  capital  a  great  European 
army.  Recently  in  the  revolution  of  the  pal- 
ace, which  took  place  in  Pekin  in  September, 
1898,  it  was  manifest  to  what  degree  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Russian  legation  there  was  pre- 
ponderant. The  young  Emperor,  Kwang-Su, 
supported  by  Japan,  and  perhaps  also  by 
England,  endeavored  to  shake  off  the  tutelage 
of  the  Empress-Dowager,  Tsu-Hsi,  and  of 
the  viceroy,  Li-Hung-Chang,  the  friend  of 
the  Russians,  in  order  that  he  might  inaugurate 
an  era  of  reforms.  The  plot  was  discovered, 
the  accomplices  of  the  Emperor  were  exe- 
cuted or  banished,  and  the  Empress-Dowager 
reassumed  full  power. 

In  Corea,  Russia  took  the  place  of  China 
in  the  long-standing  rivalry  that  the  latter  had 
carried  on  with  Japan.  At  Seoul,  in  the  palace 
of  King  Li-hui,  it  was  the  Russian  faction 
which,  as  a  conservative  party,  took  the  place 
113 


CHINA 

of  the  old  Chinese  faction  in  opposition  to  the 
Japanese  faction,  which  constitutes  the  progress- 
ive party  of  Corea.  Japan  and  Russia  disputed 
with  each  other  not  only  political  influences, 
but  commercial  exploitation.  Russia  might 
have  employed  force,  but  she  feared  lest  Japan, 
the  Great  Britain  of  the  Far  East,  might  throw 
herself  into  an  alliance  with  the  Great  Britain 
of  Europe.  Therefore,  Russia  now  openly 
opposed  Japan,  and  now  again  craftily  manipu- 
lated her.  In  spite  of  the  keemiess  of  the  con- 
tention, she  had  the  shrewdness  never  to  push 
matters  to  a  rupture.  In  a  series  of  agreements, 
dated  May  14, 1896,  February  24, 1897,  April  25, 
1898,  respectively,  the  two  rivals  attempted 
to  define  the  conditions  of  this  sort  of  condo- 
minium and  to  establish  an  equitable  division 
of  commercial  advantages,  of  mail  and  tele- 
graph monopoly,  and  of  police  force.  In  this 
division,  however,  Russia  seemed  to  secure  the 
lion's  share.  She  gained  possession  in  Corea  of 
a  system  of  telegraph  lines  which  she  annexed 
114 


CHINA 

to  her  Siberian  lines;  she  managed  to  have 
the  financial  administration  of  the  kingdom 
entrusted  to  Russians,  and  succeeded  in 
having  King  Li-hui  issue  an  edict  that  the 
future  railways  of  Corea  should  be  of  the  same 
gauge  as  those  of  Siberia, 

With  France  in  Tonquin  and  the  region  round 
about;  Germany  in  Kiao-chow;  England  at 
Wei-hai-Wei,  on  the  Blue  River,  and  in  the  pen- 
insula of  Kelimg  before  Hong-Kong;  with 
Russia  throughout  all  north  China;  the  Japanese 
in  Corea,  in  Formosa,  and  the  Pescadores,  and 
the  United  States  in  the  Philippines, — it  can 
be  seen  that  the  political  problems  of  the  Far 
East  have  become  as  complicated  as  the  like 
problems  have  ever  been  in  Europe  or  America. 


115 


THE  MEANS  AND  METHODS  OF 
RUSSIAN  EXPANSION. 

Fruits  op  Diplomacy — Absolutism  of  Russian 
Government — An  Enlightened  Despotism — Rus- 
sian Colonists — Race  Characteristics — Religion 
— Population — Franco-Russian  Alliance — From 
the  Baltic  to  the  Pacific. 

We  have  followed  Russia  in  all  the  directions 
that  her  policy  of  expansion  has  carried  her. 
It  now  remains  for  us  to  study  the  means 
that  she  has  employed,  especially  in  what  con- 
cerns her  expansion  in  the  East. 

Th(>  essential  characteristic  that  distinguishes 
her  Oriental  from  her  Western  policy ;,  is  that, 
while  nearly  all  the  progress  she  has  made  in 
Europe  has  been  either  the  cause  or  the  result 
of  bloody  wars  like  those  of  the  Czars  of  Mos- 
cow against  Poland,  of  Peter  the  Great  against 
('harl(\s  XII.,  of  Catherine  II.  and  Alexander  II. 
against  the  Ottomans,  of  Paul  I.  against  the 
116 


RUSSIAN  EXPANSION 


French  Republic,  of  Alexander  I.  against  Napo- 
leon, and  of  Nicholas  I.  against  the  Allies  in 
the  Crimea,  her  Oriental  expansions  have  never 
brought  her  into  war  with  a  power  of  the  first 
magnitude,  not  even  with  China.^  However 
bellicose  Russia  may  have  shown  herself  in 
Europe,  in  Asia  she  has  exhibited  a  prudence 
wholly  Oriental.  A  score  of  times  it  has  seemed 
that  she  was  on  the  brink  of  a  mighty  war  with 
Great  Britain  over  the  frontiers  of  India; 
with  China  over  Albasin,  Kuldja,  or  Man- 
churia; and  with  Japan  over  Liao-tung  and 
Corea.  Some  sort  of  an  agreement  has  always 
come  in  time  to  ward  off  an  open  rupture,  as 
in  1872,  1885,  1887,  and  1895,  with  Great 
Britain;  and  as  at  Nertchinsk,  at  Ai'gun,  at 
Tientsin,  and  at  Pekin  with  China.  In  1871, 
war  with  the  latter  seemed  imminent  with 
respect  to  the  Kuldja  question,  but,  rather 
than  proceed  to  extreme  measures,  Russia 
preferred  to  abandon  a  part  of  her  conquest. 
In  these  agreements,  Russia  it  is  found,  has 

O  Written  in  1900. 

117 


RUSSIAN  EXPANSION 


generally  the  better  part  of  the  bargain.  She 
understands  how  to  utilize  the  amour  propre 
of  her  adversaries.  Thus,  she  helped  the  Chi- 
nese "to  save  their  face,"  for  example,  by 
inducing  them  to  lease  for  twenty-five  or  ninety- 
nine  years  what  they  would  obstinately  have 
refused  to  cede  definitely.  Thanks  to  this 
expedient,  it  appeared  to  the  Chinese  that  the 
dignity  and  integrity  of  their  empire  would 
remain  inviolate.  England  also  has  grown 
accustomed  to  allowing  herself  "to  save  her 
face,"  and  to  be  put  to  sleep  by  the  mesmeric 
passes,  energetic,  and  at  the  same  time,  caress- 
ing of  Russian  diplomacy.  She  allows  herself 
to  see  in  the  "explanations"  brought  to  Lon- 
don, the  proof  that  some  bold  Cossack  raid, 
some  thorough  lesson  administered  to  hor 
Afghan  clients,  is  the  result  of  an  "error",  a 
"misunderstanding."  A  company  of  six  hun- 
dred soldiers  is  almost  always  a  "scientific 
expedition."  The  English  minister,  in  order 
not  to  stir  up  strife,  allows  himself  to  yield, 
118 


RUSSIAN  EXPANSION 


and  hands  over  to  his  successor  the  task  of 
disentangUng  the  knot.  This  successor  is  care- 
ful not  to  meddle  with  what  he  himself  was  not 
mixed  up  in,  and  what  the  jingoes  and  London 
cockneys  have  already  forgotten;  and  so  what 
the  Russians  have  skillfully  acquired  remains 
permanently  in  their  possession.  If  the  occa- 
sion demands  it,  they  will  declare  that  they  did 
not  intend  to  conquer  Bokhara;  but  have  they 
proved  that  they  have  not  made  a  vassal  state 
of  it,  something  that  will  be  more  useful  to 
them  than  an  annexed  province?  They  never 
intended  to  advance  to  Merv;  but  if  the  people 
of  Merv  of  their  own  accord  came  to  them, 
would  it  be  a  wise  policy  to  reject  a  "  voluntary" 
submission?  And  thus,  slowly,  silently,  with- 
out excessive  cracking  of  her  whip,  Russian 
supremacy,  in  her  well-oiled  car  of  progress, 
has  been  moving  on  through  all  Central  Asia. 

Russia  is  the  only  European  power  which  has 
an  absolute  government.    Its  autocratic  fea- 
ture, so  fiercely  assailed  upon  the  accession  of 
119 


RUSSIAN  EXPANSION 


Nicholas  I.  by  the  "Constitutionals,"  or 
"Republicans,"  of  1825,  and  under  Alexander 
II.  by  the  Nihilist  conspiracies,  seems  to  have 
taken  on  a  new  life  in  the  estimation  of  the 
Russian  people,  because,  according  to  the  expres- 
sion of  Prince  Oukhtomski,  it  is  the  necessary 
condition  of  the  greatness  of  their  nation  and 
of  her  "supernatural"  and  providential  mis- 
sion in  Asia.  If  the  foundation  of  the  govern- 
ment remains  autocratic,  this  autocracy,  is  at 
least  more  sincerely  an  "enlightened  despotism" 
than  was  the  absolutism  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, a  despotism  thoughtful  of  the  economic 
interests  and  the  well-being  of  the  people, 
blending  its  ambitions  with  the  legitimate 
aspirations  of  the  nation.  It  has  borrowed 
from  the  West  municipal  or  provincial  solf- 
govornment,  but  not  the  parlinmontary,  not 
even  the  representative  regimen.  In  Russia 
there  is  no  minister  responsible  to  legislative 
bodies,  where  changeable  majorities  successively 
displace  one  another;  but  ministers  having  the 
120 


RUSSIAN  EXPANSION 

confidence  of  the  sovereign  continue  in  office 
for  a  long  time,  in  such  manner  that  from  1815 
to  1882  Russia  had  only  two  ministers  of  foreign 
afTairs,  Nesselrode  and  Gortchakof,  and  since 
the  latter  date  there  have  been  only  three,  De 
Giers,  Lobanof,  and  Muravief.  How  many 
have  been  those  that  have  followed  one  another 
during  these  past  eighty-five  years  in  France, 
England,  and  even  the  United  States!  This 
permanency  in  office  allows  continuity  of  the 
same  political  views  and  constancy  in  realizing 
them.  No  parliament,  therefore,  no  question- 
ings, no  blue  or  yellow  books.  A  restricted 
liberty  of  the  press  closes  with  respect  the 
indiscreet  lips  of  reporters  and  interviewers. 
Hence  secrecy  in  both  planning  and  executing 
is  possible.  There  is  no  need  of  throwing  dust 
in  the  eyes  of  parliaments,  of  the  newspapers, 
and  of  the  people ;  nor  is  there  any  need  of  brag, 
optimistic  proclamations,  and  of  oratorical 
heroics.  Great  conquests  can  be  accomplished 
silently. 

121 


RUSSIAN  EXPANSION 


This  form  of  government,  though  it  may 
appear  as  archaic  as  the  despotism  of  Nebuchad- 
nezzar or  of  the  Grand  Turk,  does  not  exclude 
the  use  of  the  most  modern  appUances  and 
scientific  methods  over  which  free  peoples  pride 
themselves;  railroads,  telegraphs,  telephones, 
improved  cannon  and  rifles,  battleships  and 
cruisers  of  the  latest  pattern,  a  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  history,  of  ethnography,  and  of  all 
forms  of  human  speech,  from  those  of  Finland 
to  those  of  Kamtchatka.  It  does  not  exclude 
the  system  of  military  organization  in  vigorous 
operation  by  the  powerful  and  enlightened 
nations  of  France  and  Germany,  nor  yet  the 
art  of  securing  from  the  people  the  maximum 
of  military  power. 

Russia  has  a  regular  army  like  France  and 
Germany,  national  militia  like  Switzerland,  and 
irregular  troops  like  those  of  the  Shah  of  Persia 
and  the  Emperor  of  China.  These  irregulars 
date  back  to  the  begiiming  of  Russian  expan- 
sion. The  Czars  of  Moscow  had  their  Cossacks 
122 


RUSSIAN  EXPANSION 


of  the  Dnieper,  of  the  Don,  of  the  Volga,  and  of 
the  Ural.  In  proportion  as  conquest  succeeded 
conquest,  the  soldier  class  of  the  subdued 
peoples  were  amalgamated  with  the  Russians 
in  the  "Cossack  armies"  of  the  Terek,  of  the 
Kuban,  of  the  Caucasus,  and  of  Turkestan. 
There  are  to-day  Cossacks  of  the  Trans-Baikal, 
of  the  Pamirs,  and  of  the  Amur.  For  hundreds 
and  thousands  of  kilometres,  they  constitute 
the  grand  guard  of  the  regular  army,  the 
mobile  curtain  of  light  cavalry  that  will  screen 
its  movements,  "free  lances,"  for  whose  too 
audacious  encroachment  and  too  bold  raids,  it 
will  be  possible  to  disavow  all  responsibility. 

Behind  these,  like  another  advance  guard, 
come  the  merchants,  adventurers  also,  merchant 
adventurers,  as  the  English  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury said.  Behind  these,  again,  sally  forth  the 
colonists  in  search  of  cheap  land,  and  who, 
following  the  course  of  the  rivers  and  streams, 
at  times  venturing  into  the  jungles,  found  vil- 
lages over  which  will  soon  rise  the  humble  bell- 
123 


RUSSIAN  EXPANSION 


tower  of  a  church.  All  these  people,  Cossacks, 
officers,  and  soldiers  of  the  regular  army,  mer- 
chants, colonists,  and  even  the  tchinovniks,  or 
officials,  possess  to  a  degree  not  met  with  in 
any  other  European  nation,  the  gift  of  adapta- 
tion to  a  new  climate  and  environment,  and  the 
gift  of  assimilating  native  races  or  of  becoming 
assimilated  with  them.  The  peasant  of  Euro- 
pean Russia,  very  much  mixed,  especially  in 
the  East,  with  Finnish  or  Turkish  blood  and 
characteristics,  docs  not  differ  essentially  from 
the  Ostiak  and  the  Vogul  of  Western  Siberia. 
These,  in  turn,  show  no  marked  difference  from 
the  Turkish  population  of  Eastern  Siberia, 
such  as  the  Yakuts.  From  these  to  the  Mongo- 
lian races,  such  as  the  Tunguscs,  the  Buriats, 
and  the  Manchus,  :ni(!  froin  tliese  to  the  Chinese 
p()|)ulati()n,  there  is  scarcely  any  noticeable 
transition.  There  was  a  time,  when  from  the 
Dnieper  to  the  Pacific,  all  obeyed  the  same 
master,  the  Grand  Khan,  "th(>  Son  of  Heaven," 
whose  heir  to-day  is  the  "White  Czar."  From 
124 


RUSSIAN  EXPANSION 


the  Dnieper  to  the  Pacific  extends  the  same 
plain,  are  found  the  same  climate  and  the  same 
soil,  barren  steppes  alternating  with  fertile 
mould;  the  same  manner  of  life,  of  dwelling, 
and  of  dress;  the  same  endurance  of  extreme 
cold,  excessive  heat,  privations,  fatigue,  long 
journeys,  and  a  half-nomadic  existence;  and 
the  same  tendency  to  Oriental  fatalism,  which 
the  orthodox  term  Christian  resignation.  And 
thus,  as  Elisee  Reclus  remarks,  the  Yakuts 
easily  become  Russians  and  the  Russians  as 
easily  become  Yakuts,  and  both  Russians  and 
natives  possess  the  same  readiness  in  acquiring 
the  language  of  the  foreigner. 

Does  not  the  difference  in  religion  constitute 
a  barrier  between  them?  The  Russian  peasant 
with  his  rudimentary  faith,  to  which,  neverthe- 
less, he  holds  with  all  his  heart,  and  even  the 
pope,  or  parish  priest,  with  his  vaguely  uncer- 
tain theology  and  his  ignorance,  are  free  from 
all  intolerance.  Any  form  of  the  Christian 
religion,  whatever  value  it  may  have,  although 
125 


RUSSIAN  EXPANSION 


it  clashes  with  the  still  less  highly  developed 
beliefs  of  the  Mohammedan  peoples,  makes  its 
way  among  tribes  that  are  pagan,  Shamanist, 
Fetichist,  or  vaguely  Buddhist.  Between  the 
Russians  and  the  pagans  there  is  established  a 
oneness  of  faith  or  superstition.  There  is  no 
question  of  complicated  dogmas  devised  by  the 
subtle  brains  of  Alexandria  or  of  Byzantium. 
The  untutored  Siberians  do  not  fall  into  con- 
troversies over  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity,  the 
twofold  nature  of  the  Redeemer,  or  transub- 
stantiation.  The  idea  of  God  is  too  lofty  for 
these  coarse  minds,  but  they  all  agree  in  placing 
on  the  summit  of  their  Pantheon  Saint  Nicho- 
las, the  Thaumaturgist,  and  abovc^  iiiin,  beneath 
him,  or  equal  with  him,  Christ  and  the  Virgin. 
Beneath  these  come  saints.  Christian  or  with  a 
physiognomy  that  may  be  i)agan,  Buddhistic, 
and  at  times  Mohammedan.  And  all  this  iiuilti- 
forni  worship  is  in  full  li;irmony  with  the  primi- 
tive; cult  of  springs  and  of  certain  venerable 
trees,  with  the  belief  in  demons  of  the  forests 
126 


RUSSIAN  EXPANSION 


and  river  sprites,  and  with  the  custom  of  wear- 
ing certain  amulets  that  the  orthodox  priest, 
the  Shamanist  sorcerer,  or  the  Hadji  returned 
from  Mecca,  may  furnish.  What  more  is  neces- 
sary in  order  to  be,  in  this  life,  successful  on 
the  farm,  or  in  fishing,  or  in  hunting,  or  in  war, 
and,  in  the  next,  to  be  certain  of  salvation? 
The  Tunguse,  the  Buriat,  the  Vogul,  and  the 
Ostiak,  who  firmly  believe  in  Saint  Nicholas, 
have  already  become,  or  are  in  the  process  of 
becoming,  Russian.  Are  not  the  Tchuvashi, 
the  Mordva,  and  the  Meshtcheraks  all  children 
of  the  same  father,  that  is,  subjects  of  the 
same  Czar?  Though  they  may  be  Mohamme- 
dans, do  they  not  still  believe  in  the  virtue  of 
certain  magical  words  uttered  by  the  orthodox 
priest,  the  efficacy  of  the  holy  waters  in  driving 
away  Chei'tan  (Satan)  and  evil  Djinns,  in  the 
protection  that  Saint  Blaise,  the  old-time  god, 
Valoss,  of  the  Russians,  extends  over  their 
flocks,  and  in  the  cures  wrought  in  the  name 
of  Saint  Cosme  or  in  that  of  Saint  Damian, 
127 


RUSSIAN  EXPANSION 


those    heavenly    physicians,    who    cure    their 
adherents  without  requiring  remuneration? 

Those  two  scourges,  journaHsm  and  theology, 
being  almost  unknown  in  the  Asiatic  Empire 
of  the  Czar,  one  can  live  there  in  a  happy  con- 
fusion of  things.  Politics  does  not  create  any 
differences  among  men,  and  religion  scarcely 
any.  There  is  no  time  to  reflect  and  subtilize 
upon  the  more  or  less  brown  or  yellow  color  of 
the  face,  the  more  or  less  turned-up  shape  of 
the  nose,  the  more  or  less  slant  of  the  eyes,  or 
the  more  or  less  prominence  of  the  cheeks.  In 
no  degree  of  the  social  scale  is  there  known  the 
prejudice  "of  the  skin,"  so  pronounced  among 
the  English  and  Americans,  and  noticeable, 
but  to  much  less  extent,  among  the  French, 
Portuguese,  and  Spanish  colonists.  Russian 
colonization  is  not  destructive  of  aboriginal 
races;  it  does  not  exterminate  thorn,  it  absorbs 
them.  Marriages,  legal  or  otherwise,  are  fre- 
(juent  between  the  conquerors  and  the  con- 
quered. Already,  in  the  days  of  Ivan  the 
128 


RUSSIAN  EXPANSION 


Terrible,  Tartar  Khans  became  Russian  princes. 
To  her  subjects  of  brown  or  of  saffron  com- 
plexion, of  Buddhist  or  of  Mohammedan  reli- 
gion, Russia  has  always  shown  more  liberality 
than  France  has  to  her  Algerian  subjects.  In 
Algeria  it  has  become  difficult  for  an  Arab  or 
a  Berber  to  rise  above  the  grade  of  captain,  but 
majors,  colonels,  and  even  generals  of  Turkish 
or  Circassian  race,  and  even  of  the  Mohanmie- 
dan  religion,  are  numerous  in  the  Asiatic  armies 
of  the  "White  Czar." 

The  Russians  of  Europe  are  fully  able  of 
themselves  to  people  their  Asiatic  colonies 
without  having  to  assimilate  the  natives,  and 
without  the  assistance  of  foreign  immigration. 
Russia  is  fortunate  in  that  her  colonies  are  only 
a  prolongation  of  her  own  territories.  To 
become  a  colonist,  there  is  no  ocean  to  cross, 
no  steamboat  fare  to  pay.  The  poorest  peas- 
ant, a  staff  in  his  hand,  an  axe  at  his  belt,  his 
boots  slung  from  a  cord  over  his  shoulder,  can 
pass  from  one  halting-place  to  another,  until 
129 


RUSSIAN  EXPANSION 


he  reaches  the  ends  of  the  empire.  Moreover, 
the  population  of  Russia,  by  its  own  birth  rate, 
increases,  in  spite  of  insufficient  medical  care  at 
childbirth,  with  a  rapidity  unknown  to  any 
other  nation  of  European  blood,  excepting, 
perhaps,  the  Canadian  French.  In  1878-79, 
the  subjects  of  the  Czar  numbered  ninety-six 
millions,  in  1899  they  reached  one  hundred  and 
twenty-nine  millions,  an  increase  in  twenty  years 
of  thirty-three  millions,  a  number  almost  equal 
to  the  population  of  the  kingdom  of  Italy,  or 
an  annual  increase  of  about  one  million  six 
hundred  thousand  souls,  a  number  that  about 
equals  the  present  population  of  North  Carolina 
or  Alabama.  With  such  a  treasury  of  men  to 
draw  from,  neither  military  power  nor  colonial 
strength  will  be  lacking.  In  Siberia,  before 
1895,  the  increase  of  population  by  immigra- 
tion alone  was  only  about  ninety-two  thousand 
per  year.  Since  the  suppression  of  penal  trans- 
j)ortation,  especially  since  the  construction  of 
the  Trans-Siberian  railroad,  immigration  lias 
130 


RUSSIAN  EXPANSION 


brought  in  two  hundred  thousand  annually. 
The  population  of  Siberia  must  by  this  time 
have  reached  the  figure  of  seven  millions.  Of 
this  niunber  at  least  six  millions  are  Rus- 
sians. This,  however,  is  one  person  for  each 
square  kilometre  of  territory,  so  that  neither  is 
there  any  lack  of  land. 

For  a  long  time  the  Russian  sovereign  needed 
two  things  to  enable  him  to  plunge  boldly  into 
the  depths  of  Asia.  First,  he  lacked  the  assur- 
ance that  England  or  the  German  powers  would 
not  be  able  to  foment  on  his  European  frontiers 
one  of  those  coalitions  like  those  that  resulted 
in  the  Crimean  War  or  in  the  revision  of  the 
Treaty  of  San  Stefano;  secondly,  he  lacked 
"the  sinews  of  war,"  or,  as  the  English  phrase- 
ology is,  "the  Cavalry  of  Saint  George."  The 
alliance  with  France,  outlined  at  Kronstadt  in 
1891,  proclaimed  at  Paris  in  1896,  and  at  St. 
Petersburg  in  1897,  has  given  the  Czar  two 
things  that  were  wanting.  It  assures  the  safety 
of  the  European  frontiers  against  any  effort  of 
131 


RUSSIAN  EXPANSION 


the  Triple  Alliance.  In  the  Far  East,  in  1895, 
we  have  seen  how,  at  the  same  time,  France 
and  Germany  took  in  hand  the  interests  of 
Russia  against  Japanese  ambition  and  British 
hostility.  The  Germany  of  Bismarck  attempted 
to  ruin  Russia's  credit  in  the  Berlin  exchange 
and  in  the  European  market.  France  threw 
open  her  market  and  her  credit  to  Russia,  and 
either  in  France,  or  thanks  to  her,  the  Czar, 
within  a  few  years,  has  been  able  to  borrow 
several  milliards.  This  has  enabled  him  to 
strengthen  his  army,  put  a  powerful  navy 
afloat,  consent  to  large  loans  to  China  and 
Persia,  complete  his  European  railroad  system, 
and  push  forward  the  work  upon  the  Trans- 
Caucasus,  the  Trans-Siberian,  the  Trans-Man- 
churian,  and  the  Trans-Chinese  railroads. 

The  results  of  the  darings  raids  through 
Turkestan,  in  the  direction  of  the  Persian  Gulf 
and  of  Afghanistan,  and  towards  the  Anmr  and 
the  Japan  Sea,  are  now  consolidated  by  a 
wholly  modern  outfit  of  war  and  travel.  In 
132 


RUSSIAN  EXPANSION 


Turkestan,  the  ancient  capitals  of  Tamerlane, 
the  fortresses  conquered  by  the  heroism  of  the 
Perovskis,  the  Tchernaiefs  and  of  the  Skobe- 
lefs,  all  of  which  called  for  so  much  skill  and 
careful  manipulation  on  the  part  of  Russian 
diplomacy,  are  to-day  railroad  stations.  There 
are  dining-room  stations  at  Merv,  Bokhara, 
Samarkand,  Kokhand,  Andijan,  Tashkend,  etc., 
and  the  Russian  station  of  Kushk  is  only  one 
hundred  and  twenty  kilometres  from  Herat. 
The  Trans-Siberian  railroad,  with  its  numerous 
stations,  its  branch  lines  to  Khabarovsk,  Port 
Arthur,  and  Pekin,  and  the  annexed  systems 
that  penetrate  the  Chinese  Empire,  has  consoli- 
dated all  that  was  accomplished  by  the  venture- 
some explorers  of  former  times,  from  Irmak  or 
Khabarof  to  Lieutenant  Nevelskoi  of  our  day. 
The  principal  line,  six  thousand  two  hundred 
kilometres  long,  with  its  bridges  of  eight  hun- 
dred metres  over  the  Obi  and  the  Irtysh,  of  one 
thousand  metres  over  the  Yenisei  and  the 
Selenga,  with  its  ferryboat,  one  hundred  metres 
133 


RUSSIAN  EXPANSION 


long,  that  ferries  the  trains  across  the  southern 
bay  of  Lake  Baikal,  permits  the  transportation 
of  colonists,  merchants,  regiments,  and  brings 
to  bear  upon  the  further  side  of  Asia  all  the 
power  of  the  Czar  who  reigns  at  St.  Petersburg. 
In  1889,  the  merchants  of  Nizhni  Novgorod,  in 
an  address  to  the  Emperor  Alexander  III.,  pre- 
dicted in  these  terms  the  brilliant  future  of  the 
Trans-Siberian:  "It  will  unite  to  Europe, 
through  the  Russian  Empire,  four  hundred 
millions  of  Chinese,  and  forty-two  millions  of 
Japanese.  One  will  be  able  to  go  from  Europe 
to  Shang-hai  by  Vladivostock  in  twenty  days 
instead  of  the  thirty-five  which  the  Canadian 
route  requires,  or  the  forty-five  of  the  Suez 
route."  The  distance  between  Europe  and  the 
Far  East  has  been  still  further  sliorteniMJ  by 
Uie  extension  of  (li(>  Russian  railroad  to  Port 
Arthur.  In  the  commerce  of  the  world,  the 
Trans-Siberian  will  work  as  important  a  revo- 
lution as  did  the  discovery  of  the  Ca})e  of  Good 
Hope  in  the  fifteenth  century,  or  the  construc- 
134 


RUSSIAN  EXPANSION 


tion  of  the  Suez  Canal  in  the  nineteenth.  The 
pohcy  of  Russia  is  to  secure  the  full  attain- 
ment of  what  she  has  been  striving  after 
for  centuries  in  her  onward  march  through 
the  Siberian  wilds,  that  is,  access  to  seas  free 
from  ice,  where  her  fleets  of  war  and  commerce 
may  have  unhindered  course.  Russia  is  striving 
for  this  freedom  of  the  sea  four  hundred 
years  later  than  Spain,  Portugal,  France,  Eng- 
land, and  Holland.  She  has  lost  nothing  in 
having  waited  so  long.  Thus  far,  she  has 
passed  through  the  Baltic,  and  the  Mediter- 
ranean periods,  with  a  power  for  expansion 
unknown  to  her  predecessors.  She  is  about  to 
inaugurate  a  new  era  in  her  history;  the 
oceanic,  the  world-wide  era,  is  merely  beginning 
for  the  Slav. 


135 


THE    RUSSIAN    PEOPLE 

A    PSYCHOLOGICAL  STUDY 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE: 

A  Psychological  study. 
J.  Novicow,  Odessa. 

The  psychology  of  a  great  nation  is  difficult 
to  determine.  When  we  have  before  us  an 
organism  composed  of  tens  of  millions  of  men, 
we  may  assume  in  advance  that  it  contains 
the  most  varied  and  diverse  elements.  You 
may  say  of  it  whatever  you  please;  the  most 
opposite  and  contrary  assertions  may  be  equally 
true  in  regard  to  it.  One  is,  therefore,  neces- 
sarily reduced  to  certain  broad  generalizations, 
which  remain  in  a  very  large  measure  superficial. 
Even  approximate  precision  is  impossible  in 
matters  of  this  kind.  Errors  and  subjective 
irregularities  are  more  likely  to  arise  here  than 
anjrwhere  else.  Almost  involuntarily,  every 
sociologist,  in  determining  the  psychology  of 
his  nation,  gives  more  or  less  the  psychology 
139 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

of  his  own  individuality.  In  vain  we  may 
employ  every  effort  to  arrive  at  the  impartial 
truth;  we  can  never  completely  attain  such  a 
result.  On  the  other  hand,  when  one  under- 
takes to  define  the  psychology  of  a  foreign 
nation,  he  falls  into  even  greater  inaccuracies. 
When  we  do  not  belong  to  a  nation,  when 
we  have  not  breathed  in  its  inherent  atmos- 
phere with  our  very  first  breath,  we  cannot 
feel  as  does  this  nation;  and  this  makes  it 
impossible  to  talk  of  it  with  any  intelligence. 

From  still  another  point  of  view,  it  is  difficult 
to  define  the  psychology  of  a  nation,  because 
psychology  is,  in  its  very  essence,  vague  and 
indefinite.  When  we  think  of  the  American, 
English,  or  Russian  people,  a  certain  picture, 
it  is  true,  rises  before  the  mind;  but  the  outlines 
arc  so  wavering  and  intangible  that  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  express  this  picture  in  words. 
The  fundamental  difference  between  people 
is  marked  far  more  by  their  manner  of  feeling 
than  by  their  manner  of  thinking.  But  how 
140 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 


are  we  to  define  in  words  this  manner  of  feeling 
on  the  part  of  an  individual,  and,  still  more, 
that  of  a  nation  composed  of  millions  of  indiv- 
iduals? 

But  if  the  psychology  of  any  people  in  general 
is  difficult  to  determine,  that  of  the  Russian 
people  in  particular  is  very  much  more  so. 
In  the  first  place,  we  may  ask  ourselves,  ' '  What 
is  the  Russian  nation?''  It  is  a  union  of  Slav 
populations  inhabiting  the  northeastern  part 
of  Europe,  a  part  of  the  Caucasus,  and  Siberia. 
But  this  branch  of  the  Slav  race  is  further 
divided  into  three  great  branches;  the  Great 
Russians,  Little  Russians,  and  White  Russians. 
Some  ethnographers  and  linguists  maintain 
that  the  Little  Russians  should  not  be  consid- 
ered part  of  the  Russian  nation,  but  as  an 
independent  Slav  nation,  just  like  the  Czechs 
and  Poles.  And  here  a  new  obstacle  confronts 
us.  We  shall  overcome  it,  however,  by  limiting 
ourselves  in  this  essay  to  speaking  of  the  Great 
Russians.  This  will  be  the  more  legitimate^ 
141 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

since  they  form  much  the  most  numerous 
and  important  branch.  The  Great  Russians 
compose  more  than  two  thirds  of  the  Russian 
nation  in  general.  There  are  about  fifty 
miUions  of  them,  and  they  have  also  the  advan- 
tage in  intellectual  development.  The  Great 
Russian  dialect,  the  Muscovite  dialect,  is  now 
the  literary  language  of  all  Russia,  the  language 
of  Pushkin,  of  Lermontof,  and  of  Tolstoi. 

Imagine  an  instrument  for  measuring  the 
intellect  and  morality  of  men.  Imagine  that, 
with  the  aid  of  such  an  instrument,  we  had 
measured  the  intellect  and  morality  of  all  the 
Americans,  of  all  the  English,  and  of  all  the 
Russians.  I  am  convinced  that  we  should 
obtain  very  similar  averages.  No  one  can 
dispute  the  fact,  however,  that  at  the  different 
epochs  of  history,  some  nations  may  be;  more 
advanced  than  others.  But  the  nations  which 
are  most  in  advance  at  a  certain  period  may 
not  be  so  at  another.  The  Italians  were  nmch 
in  advance  of  the  English  in  the  fifteenth 
142 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

century,  which  would  seem  to  show  that  the 
psychology  of  a  people  is  not  immutable,  and  can 
hardly  be  definitely  determined  once  and  for 
all.  Like  a  living  existence,  a  people  is  contin- 
ually changing;  so  that  what  we  say  of  it 
to-day  may  be  no  longer  true  of  it  to-morrow. 
Hence  a  new  difficulty  arises  in  determining' 
the  psychology  of  a  nation. 

But  the  reader  will  doubtless  inquire,  ' '  Since 
you  recognize  that  so  many  obstacles  lie  before 
you,  why  undertake  this  task?"  I  do  so  at 
the  solicitation  of  the  Editor  of  this  volume, 
and  the  precise  object  of  these  preliminary 
remarks  is  to  secure  the  reader's  indulgence 
for  the  imperfection  of  my  work. 

If  the  opinions  stated  in  the  following  pages 
are  not  clear  and  well  defined,  if  inaccuracies 
and  contradictions  appear  there,  it  is  for  the 
reason  that,  in  the  nature  of  things,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  trace  with  geometric  precision  the 
outlines  of  a  popular  psychology.  Life  is  a 
continually  changing  metamorphosis.  He  who 
143 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 


speaks  of  living  things  must  perforce  limit  him- 
self to  approximations  more  or  less  vague,  and 
with  little  resemblance  to  algebraic  theorems. 

I.  Race  and  Temperament. 
The  Russian  Empire  contains  more  than 
sixty-five  independent  racial  groups.  It  is 
a  veritable  Tower  of  Babel.  Even  with  the 
omission  of  Siberia  and  Central  Asia,  there 
remain  in  Russia  in  Europe,  and  the  Cau- 
casus alone,  forty-six  different  peoples.  In  the 
northwest,  the  Fins;  in  the  west,  the  Lithuan- 
ians and  Poles;  in  the  southwest  the  Rouman- 
ians; and  in  the  east,  on  the  banks  of  the  Volga, 
numerous  groups  of  Uralo- Altaic  populations: 
the  Tcheremisa,  Mordia,  Votiaki,  and  Pcnnians. 
In  I  he  southeast,  there  arc  the  Tartars  in 
Crimea,  .•md  (Irecks  on  th(>  Sea  of  Azof.  Add 
to  this  the  sporadic  groups  of  (iennans  and 
.](;ws.  All  these  numerous  clenients  have  in 
a  great  measun*  commingled.  The  history 
of  Ru.ssia  is  the  reverse,  properly  si)eaking 
144 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

of  that  of  the  United  States.  While  in  America 
there  is  an  Aryan  invasion  proceeding  from 
east  to  west,  in  Russia  there  is  an  Aryan  inva- 
sion going  from  west  to  east.  The  centre  from 
which  the  Slav  emigrations  set  forth  seems 
to  have  been  the  region  of  the  Dnieper  and 
Galicia.  The  upper  tributaries  of  the  Dnieper 
were  settled  first.  The  Slavs  then  reached 
the  Baltic  and  founded  Novgorod  the  Great. 
Later  (from  the  eleventh  to  the  thirteenth 
centuries)  they  invaded  the  basin  of  the  Volga, 
and  founded  successively  Moscow,  Nijni-Nov- 
gorod,  vSaratof,  and  many  other  cities.  This 
movement  is  still  going  on.  The  American 
"Far  West"  has  a  counterpart  in  the  "Far 
East"  of  Siberia.  Nearly  two  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  Russian  colonists  settle  there 
every  year.  But  while  the  Aryans  of  America 
have  almost  exterminated  the  autochthonous 
population  of  the  Redskins,  the  Russians  emi- 
grants have  commingled  with  the  ancient 
autochthonous  populations  of  eastern  Russia. 
145 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

The  Russian  people  is  thus,  in  its  sum  total, 
a  mixture  of  Slavs  and  Fins. 

Given  such  conditions,  it  is  very  difficult  to 
determine  the  physical  and  physiological  type 
not  only  of  the  Russian  people  in  general/ 
but  also  of  the  Great  Russians  in  particular. 
Are  the  latter  dark  or  light?  To  tell  the  truth, 
they  are  both.  According  to  the  researches 
of  ethnographers,  we  see  that  the  number  of 
Great  Russians  with  dark  hair  varies,  with 
the  different  regions,  from  fifth-one  to  fifth- 
seven  in  a  hundred.  These  dark  shades, 
furthermore,  cover  the  entire  scale  from  raven 
black  to  light  brown.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
eyes  as  of  the  hair.  Every  shade  is  to  be  met 
with  among  the  Russians,  with  a  predominance, 
however,  of  grey  eyes.  If  we  consider  blue  and 
grey~eyes  as  belonging  in  the  category  of  light, 
and  brown  eyes  as  belonging  in  the  category 

(')  We  have  already  seen  that  they  are  divided  into 
three  great  hranrhcs:  the  Great  RussianH  (al)oiit  fifty 
million.s),  th(!  Littler  UuHsians  (al^out  twenty  millions), 
and  the  White  Itutisiuub  (about  live  milliontj). 

146 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 


of  dark  colored  ones,  we  must  confess  that, 
although  in  a  shght  degree,  Ught  shades  rather 
predominate  among  the  Russians. 

As  to  the  conformation  of  the  skull  (to  which 
is  now  attributed  an  importance  which  is  as 
exaggerated  as  it  is  arbitrary),  all  types  thereof 
are  to  be  found  in  Russia.  We  find  there  the 
brachycephalic  type,  the  mesaticephalic,  and 
the  dolichocephalic.  But  the  archaeological 
researches  of  recent  years,  which  have  been  very 
accurate,  are  responsible  for  a  singular  discovery, 
to  the  effect  that  in  ancient  times  in  Russia 
the  dolichocephalic  type  predominated,  and 
that  in  recent  times  it  has  been  continually 
decreasing.  This  remark  completely  subverts 
certain  modern  theories,  in  accordance  with 
which  the  number  of  the  dolichocephalic  type 
increases  with  the  greater  development  of 
intellect.  It  may  be  maintained,  however,  that 
the  Great  Russians  are  more  dolichocephalic 
than  the  Slavs  of  the  south,— the  Bulgarians 
and  Servians. 

147 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

Of  what  race,  then  are  the  Russians?  It  is 
very  difficult  to  say.  In  the  first  place,  there 
is  no  longer  a  single  pure  race  in  Europe;  but 
of  them  all,  the  Russian  nation  is  certainly 
composed  of  the  greatest  number  of  races.  Into 
the  vast  plain  which  serves  as  its  country  have 
rushed  a  thousand  different  peoples.  The 
modern  Russians  are  a  most  complex  mixture, 
whose  constituent  elements  it  is  impossible 
henceforth  to  distinguish.  There  is  an  analogy 
in  this  respect,  also,  between  the  Russians  and 
the  Americans,  who  are  a  product  of  the  crossing 
of  all  the  races  of  Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  and 
the  new  continent. 

Granted  that  th(^  race  of  the  Russians  is  so 
difficult  to  determine,  it  is  even  more  difficult 
to  describe  their  exterior  aspect  and  their  tem- 
perament. Every  type  imaginabh^  is  to  be 
met  with  in  Russia.  The  choleric,  the  lymphatic 
and  the  bilious.  A[)parently,  however  (this 
is  a  personal  opinion  of  the  author's,  for  tluTe 
arc  no  statistics  on  this  subj(>ct),  the  lymphatic 
148 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 


type  predominates.  In  general,  the  Muscovites 
are  very  tall,  have  full  forms,  soft  thick  beards, 
and  abundant  hair.  This  would  probably 
represent  the  average  type  of  masculine  beauty 
in  the  Russian  race.  The  type  of  feminine 
beauty  consists,  also,  in  a  rather  lofty  stature, 
and  forms  which  are  well  rounded  but  neither 
slender  nor  graceful.  While  I  am  writing 
these  lines,  a  type  of  the  Russian  woman  arises 
before  me.  It  differs  from  the  American, 
English,  and  French  woman,  but  a  pencil  is 
needed  to  draw  it  and  not  a  pen. 

II.    General  Psychology. 

Moreover,  I  am  in  haste  to  pass  on  to  the 
psychical  factors.  The  race  and  its  exterior 
traits  are  of  very  slight  importance  in  sociology, 
and  for  this  reason  I  do  not  think  it  worth  while 
to  dwell  long  upon  them. 

But  it  will  be  easily  understood  that  there 
are  quite  as  many,  if  not  more,  difficulties  to 
be  met  with  on  the  psychological  plane  than  on 
149 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

the  physiological.  If  it  is  not  easy  to  determine 
what  colored  eyes  predominate  in  a  people 
(for  which  direct  observation  only  is  required), 
still  less  so  is  it  to  determine  the  sort  of  char- 
acter. On  this  subject  we  shall  have  to  content 
ourselves  with  general  approximations. 

Keeping  within  these  limits,  we  may  venture 
to  assert  that  one  of  the  most  prominent  traits 
of  the  Great  Russian  character  is  an  inequality 
of  effort.  It  would  seem  as  if  the  Russians 
had  modeled  themselves  on  the  climate  of 
their  country,  which  offers  the  greatest  extremes 
of  heat  and  cold.^  It  has  been  known  for  a 
long  time,  that  among  the  Russians,  periods 
of  eager  activity  are  succeeded  by  periods  of 
an  almost  insurmountable  apathy. 

Very  often,  in  Russia,  certain  individuals 
are  the  victims  of  an  intermittent  alcoholism. 
They  remain  for  months,  sometimes,  without 

(')  At  Yakootsk,  in  Siberia,  thirty-six  degrees  of  heat 
in  Slimmer  follow  sixty  doRrees  of  cold  in  winter,  which 
makea  a  range  of  ninety-six  dcijroes. 

150 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

drinking  a  drop  of  liquor.  Then  comes  the 
period  of  alcohoHsm,  and  for  a  long  time  they 
are  uninterruptedly  tipsy  from  morning  till 
night.  For  many  Russians,  too,  this  is  their 
method  of  labor.  They  pass  weeks  doing 
nothing;  and,  then,  all  at  once,  they  are  capable 
of  working  thirty-six  consecutive  hours,  and 
they  then  get  through  an  enormous  amount 
of  work.  Naturally,  this  remark  applies  rather 
to  the  wealthy  and  cultured,  for  the  laboring 
classes  of  both  city  and  country  work  regularly 
a  fixed  number  of  hours  throughout  the  year. 
This  inequality  of  effort  is  the  trait  among 
the  Russians  which  will  strike  the  stranger 
most  forcibly.  It  seems  to  constitute  a  char- 
acteristic, as  it  were,  of  the  Russian  mind. 
It  is  in  no  sense  a  fatality  inherent  in  the  race, 
as  the  exponents  of  certain  pseudo-scientific 
theories  maintain.  This  inequality  of  effort 
is  the  result  of  historical  circumstances,  and 
when  these  circumstances  shall  have  been 
modified  it  will  disappear.  What  I  have  said 
151 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

as  to  the  degree  of  morality  may  be  repeated 
of  the  amount  of  energy.  This  amount  is  evi- 
dently present  in  equal  force  in  every  nation, 
but  according  to  the  bent  given  by  historical  cir- 
cumstances, one  nation  may  possess  more  of  it 
at  a  given  moment  than  another.  Until  the 
sixteenth  century,  the  English  were  known 
for  their  indolence  and  apathy.  The  Flor- 
entines who  went  to  England  in  the  fifteenth 
century  found  the  English  positively  inert. 
The  great  activity  of  the  American  people  in 
our  own  time  comes,  in  great  measure,  from 
their  realization  of  the  magnitude  of  the  task 
which  lies  before  them  (an  entire  continent, 
inmiensc  and  amazingly  fertile,  to  people  and 
cultivate)  and  the  political  facilities  which 
they  enjoy.  The  Russians  have  a  territory 
more  vast  and  fertile  even  (li:m  that  of  the 
Americans  and  (juitc  as  uncultivated.  There 
is,  then,  no  lack  of  work  for  them.  Un- 
happily they  have  not  yet  had  a  chance  to 
have  free  play,  from  a  political  point  of 
152 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

view;  hence  their  state  of  apathy  and  dis- 
couragement. 

But  should  there  come  a  more  fortunate 
period  in  their  history,  it  is  quite  probable 
that  there  would  be  found  no  less  persistency 
of  effort  among  the  Russians  than  among 
the  Anglo-Saxons.  Even  now  certain  indi- 
vidual proofs  of  this  may  be  seen,  for  ine- 
quality of  effort  is  very  far  from  being  a  universal 
fact  among  cultivated  Russians. 

If  the  Russians  often  experience  these  periods 
of  apathy,  we  may  at  least  exhibit  in  contrast 
with  them  some  examples  of  a  force  of  energy, 
calm  and  tenacious,  which  serves  to  over- 
come all  obstacles.  Cases  of  this  may  be  fre- 
quently observed  among  the  men,  though 
that  is  but  natural.  Per  contra,  they  are  much 
more  remarkable  when  found  among  the 
women.  For  the  Russian  woman  has  given 
some  admirable  examples  of  heroism.  Strug- 
gling at  times  against  much  greater  obstacles 
than  her  American  sisters,  she  has  succeeded 
153 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

in  obtaining  an  important  place,  notwith- 
standing, in  science,  art,  and  literature.  Gen- 
erally speaking,  the  intellectual  emancipation 
of  the  Russian  woman,  at  the  present  time, 
seems  to  us  in  advance  of  that  of  the  German, 
French,  Italian,  or  English  woman.  The 
American  woman  alone,  with  her  high  mental 
culture,  seems  to  us  able  to  bear  comparison 
with  the  Russian. 

What  is,  in  our  day,  the  dominant  trait  of 
the  Russian  woman?  It  is  very  difficult  to 
say.  All  traits  meet  in  Iut.  Unquestionably 
that  of  a  formal  sentimentality  no  longer 
predominates,  as  it  did  at  the  beginning  of 
the  nineteenth  century;  but  it  is  almost  impos- 
sible to  determine  just  what  type  of  woman 
is  acknowledged  to  prevail  at  the  present 
moment  in  Russia. 

III.      SrCNTTMENT. 

From   the   point  of  view   of  sentiment,    we 
may  say  that  a  large  junount  of  good  nature 
154 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

is  very  characteristic  of  the  Russian.  Of  all 
the  peoples  of  Europe,  this  is,  perhaps,  one 
of  the  least  cruel. 

I  know  that  such  an  opinion  has  almost 
the  air  of  a  paradox.  The  Russian  people 
have  an  execrable  reputation.  The  knout, 
Siberia,  the  extreme  severity  of  the  govern- 
ment, intolerance,  Poland,  the  sufferings  of 
the  Nihilists,  the  persecution  of  the  unhappy 
Jews, — all  this  has  given  the  Russian  nation 
a  reputation  for  universal  cruelty. 

In  order,  therefore,  to  have  my  opinion 
respected,  it  will  be  necessary  to  support  it 
by  facts.  I  shall  allege,  in  the  first  place, 
that  you  never  observe  among  the  Russians 
any  popular  sport  of  a  brutal  character, — 
such  as  cock  fights,  bull  fights,  or  even  box- 
ing, or  pugilism.  Neither  are  customs  like 
"lynch  law"  to  be  met  with,  which,  though 
justified  by  the  social  exigencies  of  certain 
times,  is  nevertheless  a  very  cruel  practice. 
In  this  sunmiary  course  of  procedure,  the 
155 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

penalty  of  death  is  very  often  inflicted 
for  offences  which,  in  truth,  hardly  merit  so 
terrible  a  punishment.  Another  proof  of  the 
gentle  nature  of  the  Russian  people  is  the 
security  which  reigns,  both  on  the  high  roads 
and  ill  the  country  districts.  Within  the 
memory  of  man,  there  has  not  been  a  region 
of  Great  Russia  which  has  been  permanently 
infested  with  brigands.  Night  and  day,  one 
may  traverse  the  most  lonely  roads  with  a 
sense  of  perfect  security.  Crimes  are  occa- 
sionally perpetrated,  but  only  in  sporadic 
and  individual  cases.  For  centuries,  now, 
there  has  not  been  seen  in  Russia  a  social 
condition  such  as  was  presented  recently  by 
Spain,  ilw.  Kingdom  of  Naj)los,  Sicily,  Greece, 
and  such  as  Turkey  still  presents.  The  only 
portion  of  the  Russian  Empire  wh(n-(>  high- 
way rol)bery  still  exists,  is  in  the  southern  ])art 
of  the  Caucasus,  but  (here  il  is  practic(>d 
by  the  indigenous  poj)ulations,  and  uiorc  oflcn 
by  th(!  Mussulmans. 

156 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

Every  one  knows  the  feelings  aroused  in 
the  lower  classes  of  the  Russian  population 
by  those  who  have  been  judicially  convicted. 
It  is  pity,  with  which  hardly  an  atom  of  hate 
or  resentment  is  mingled.  Finally,  we  must 
observe  that  Russia  was  the  first  to  suppress 
the  death  penalty  for  offences  against  the 
common  law. 

It  may  be  stated,  further,  that,  in  many 
cases,  the  Russian  administration  is  rather 
badly  run,  precisely  because  of  the  natural 
good  nature  of  the  nation.  The  chiefs  are 
sometimes  so  complacent  that  they  not  only 
cannot  make  up  their  minds  to  dismiss  their 
subordinates,  but  often  do  not  even  have 
resolution  enough  to  censure  them.  The 
public  service  naturally  suffers.  It  is  the  same 
with  pensions.  The  municipal  and  provincial 
council  boards  are  extremely  lavish  with  them. 
Very  few  people  have  within  them  the  courage 
to  refuse,  categorically,  such  help  when  de- 
manded, even  though  this  may  not  be  abso- 
157 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

lutely  needed.     Numerous  abuses  proceed  from 
this  kindness  of  character. 

Whence  comes  it,  then,  that  the  Russians 
have  so  great  a  reputation  for  cruelty? 

From  several  causes.  In  the  first  place,  we 
may  observe  in  them  the  same  trait  in  point 
of  sentiment  as  in  point  of  mental  activity. 
The  Russian  is  very  unequal.  If  carried  away, 
under  certain  circumstances,  until  he  is  quite 
beside  himself,  he  may  commit  the  greatest 
excesses.  The  Russian  is  less  master  of  him- 
self than  the  Anglo-Saxon.  But  these  very 
acts  of  cruelty,  which  are  very  uncommon, 
make  the  greater  impression  the  rarer  they 
are.  The  public  likes  to  generalize,  and  is 
apt  to  consider  as  an  habitual  trait  of  char- 
acter what  is  for  the  most  part  exceptional. 
I  do  not  mean  that  there  are  no  cases  of  cruelty 
among  the  Russian  people,  and  that  they  are 
better  than  any  others.  No;  I  only  wish  to 
say  that,  as  is  very  commonly  believed,  they 
are  no  worse. 

158 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

Aside  from  the  inequality  in  his  character, 
there  are  several  other  causes  which  lead  to 
a  belief  in  the  cruelty  of  the  Russian.  In 
the  first  place,  facts  of  a  political  nature. 
When  it  is  a  question  of  reasons  of  state,  the 
sentiment  of  pity  seems  to  vanish.  Severe 
legislation  is  believed  to  be  necessary,  in  order 
to  save  the  state,  and  thus  all  pity  seems  a 
culpable  weakness.  If  our  ancestors,  in  the 
Middle  Ages  and  up  to  within  comparatively 
recent  times,  had  such  harsh  penal  legislation 
it  is  not  that  individually  they  were  any  worse 
than  we  are;  it  was  only  because  they  believed 
such  legislation  indispensable.  Russia,  having 
developed  more  slowly  than  other  nations 
of  the  West,  preserved  longer  certain  archaic 
and  cruel  institutions,  like  slavery  and  cor- 
poral punishment.  All  the  European  nations 
have  had,  at  some  time,  penal  laws  as  barbar- 
ous as  those  of  Russia;  but  they  have  sooner 
given  them  up.  The  sight  of  the  Russian 
inflicting  very  severe  punishments,  already 
159 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

forgotten  in  the  West,  is  the  source  of  the 
inference  that  they  were  more  cruel  than  the 
Occidentals.  This  was  not  the  case;  they 
were  only  less  advanced  in  point  of  ideas. 
They  still  believed  these  barbarous  punish- 
ments to  be  necessary,  after  the  other  nations 
no  longer  shared  in  their  error. 

And,  then,  the  Russian  government  has  an 
execrable  reputation;  since  nearly  all  the 
civilized  countries  have  become  constitutional, 
and  Russia  has  not,  the  line  has  been  drawn, 
as  it  were,  between  the  Russian  government 
and  the  others.  The  former  is  in  nowise  the 
most  cruel,  but  it  is  believed  to  be  so.  And, 
then,  the  Russian  government  commits  one 
great  fault:  it  judges  political  offences  with 
closed  doors.  There  may  thus  naturally  be 
put  to  their  account  a  whole  series  of  cnicllies 
which  they  have  never  {'oinniittcd.  I  am 
convinced  that  I  lie  riuiubcr  of  individuals 
sent  to  Siberia  for  political  crinies,  during  the 
whole  course  of  Uk;  nineteenth  century,  do(;s 
IGO 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

not  exceed,  perhaps,  three  or  four  thousand 
persons.^  But  the  figures  current  in  pubUc 
opinion  in  the  West  are  infinitely  larger.  Of 
course  these  figures  are  hypothetical.  People 
speak  with  the  greatest  fluency  of  fifty  or 
sixty  thousand  persons  a  year.  Human  imag- 
ination has  no  limits! 

The  political  prisons  of  Russia  have  every- 
where an  execrable  reputation.  It  is  true 
that  here  and  there  revolting  cruelties  may 
be  found.  Political  convicts  are  deprived, 
unhappily,  of  all  legal  protection.  Their  fate 
depends  upon  the  personal  character  of  the 
individual  who  is  in  charge  of  their  prison. 
And  among  these  individuals  are  to  be  found 
some  who  are  monsters.  But,  generally  speak- 
ing, I  believe  that  political  prisoners  experience 
no  worse  treatment  in  Russia  than  in  other 
countries. 

(i)  This  is  a  purely  personal  opinion,  for  precisely 
in  consequence  of  the  very  mystery  with  which  the 
Russian  government  surrounds  itself,  there  is  no  accu- 
rate information  to  be  had  on  this  subject. 

161 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

If  we  examine  closely  certain  special  cases, 
we  may  convince  ourselves  that  the  Russian 
government  is  no  more  cruel  than  any  of  the 
others. 

The  reputation  for  severity  of  the  Emperor 
Nicholas  I.  is  well  known.  It  was  so  terrible 
that  a  certain  English  author  was  amazed 
to  learn  that  he  was  an  excellent  father  of  a 
family  and  was  very  fond  of  his  children. 
It  seemed  to  this  author  as  if  Nicholas  I.  were 
a  vampire,  thirsting  for  blood.  Let  us  see 
the  facts.  The  Emperor  Alexander  I.  died, 
in  1825,  without  issue.  His  younger  brother, 
Constantino,  having  renounced  the  throne, 
it  reverted  to  the  third  brother,  Nicholas. 
But  Constantino's  renunciation  was  not  gen- 
erally known.  On  the  death  of  Alexander, 
the  oath  of  allegiance  to  Constantino  was 
taken  by  many  official  bodies  in  St.  Peters- 
burg. A  few  superior  officers  of  the  guard 
availed  themselves  of  this  circumstance  to 
incite  the  troops  against  Nicholas,  and  to 
1G2 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 


make  the  attempt  to  suppress  autocratic 
power  in  Russia.  This  is  what  is  called  the 
Revolution  of  December.  After  Nicholas 
had  subdued  them,  he  caused  the  officers 
who  had  revolted  against  him  to  be  tried. 
Five  only  were  condemned  to  death  and  exe- 
cuted. Thus  a  revolt  of  the  army  against 
their  legitimate  sovereign  (for  that  was  how 
Nicholas  I.  regarded  it)  caused  the  blood  of 
but  five  persons  to  be  shed,  and  this  in  bar- 
barous Russia,  and  by  one  of  her  most  cruel 
monarchs. 

Let  us  see  what  was  passing  in  the  countries 
of  the  West  at  this  same  period.  I  shall  not 
speak  of  France  and  the  Revolution.  Such 
a  comparison  would  be  impossible.  There, 
under  a  mere  suspicion,  people  were  sent  to 
the  guillotine.  The  great  poet  Andre  Chenier 
was  beheaded  for  sympathizing  with  the 
Royalists,  and  also  because  he  had  written 
some  verses  against  the  members  of  the  Na- 
tional Convention !  But,  long  after  the ' ' Terror/' 
163 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

the  French  government  had  become  no  more 
beneficent.  In  1824,  four  unhappy  sergeants 
were  executed  in  France  only  because  they 
were  members  of  a  secret  society.  Is  it  neces- 
sary to  recall  the  summary  military  execution 
by  the  Austrians  in  1848?  How  many  victims 
then  perished!  And  no  vulgar  conspirators 
either,  but  noble  warriors  who  had  fought 
openly  and  bared  their  breasts  to  the  enemy. 
But  of  all  the  European  nations,  Spain  assuredly 
holds  the  palm  for  cruelty.  In  1824,  seven 
Free  Masons  were  there  executed,  simply  for 
having  held  a  meeting!  In  1831,  a  young  man 
was  hung  for  having  cried  "  Hurrah  for  Liberty! " 
A  woman  was  hung  in  Granada  for  having 
embroidered  a  flag  with  the  inscription,  "Law, 
Liberty,  Equality."  Such  examples  might  be 
multiplied.  But  these  which  I  have  just  cited 
are  sufficient,  it  seems  to  me,  to  show  that  the 
Russian  government  is  far,  indeed,  from  being 
}us  cruel  as  tlnjsc  of  Western  l<Jiroj)e.  Simply 
because  it  is  autocratic,  while  the  others  are 
164 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

constitutional,  it  enjoys  a  reputation  which 
it  does  not  always  merit. 

What  I  have  just  said  is  to  prove  what  I 
have  already  advanced  on  the  subject  of  the 
good  nature  of  the  Russian  people.  But,  in 
consequence  of  the  unevenness  of  character 
which  is  one  of  their  dominant  traits,  this 
habitual  good  nature  may  be  transformed 
at  times  into  very  great  brutality,  as  I  shall 
have  occasion  to  point  out  when  I  come  to 
speak  of  politics. 

Next  to  their  good  nature,  one  of  the  most 
universal  traits  of  the  Russian  people  is  a  large 
share  of  melancholy  and  sadness.  The  life  of 
the  Russian  is  far  from  being  a  very  happy 
one.  The  country  itself  is  not  cheerful.  Dur- 
ing six  months  of  the  year,  it  is  shrouded  in 
snow,  and,  in  Summer  also,  the  coloring  is 
rather  dull. 

The  great  pine  forests  which  occupy  all  the 
northern  part  have  a  melancholy  aspect.  But 
even  the  caducous  species  which  prevail  in 
165 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 


Russia  (the  birch,  for  example,)  have  not  very 
brilliant  tints.  Elsewhere  the  surface  of  the 
ground  is  gently  undulating.  The  country  is 
completely  lacking  in  relief  and  character.  The 
eye  glides,  as  it  were,  over  infinite  spaces  which 
lose  themselves  on  the  horizon,  and  seeing  no 
landmark,  one  is  overcome  as  with  a  vague 
feeling  of  unrest. 

History  has  been  even  more  severe  upon  the 
Russian  people  than  nature.  Russia  has  been, 
during  long  centuries,  exposed  to  the  inroads 
and  predatory  incursions  of  the  nomadic  tribes 
of  Asia.  The  last  invasion  of  the  Tartars  of 
Crimea  into  Russia  in  Europe  took  place  in  the 
second  half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Up  to 
comparatively  recent  times,  the  Russian  people 
have  lived  under  an  entire  sense  of  insecurity 
and  constant  apprehension.  To  the  invasions 
of  the  nomads  is  nddcMl  another  terri])le  enemy 
of  the  Russian,— fire.  Rus.sia  has  almost  no 
stone,  hut  possesses  on  the  contrary  immense 
forests.  Naturally,  most  of  the  dwellings  there 
166 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

have  been  built  of  wood.  With  wood,  con- 
flagrations are  inevitable,  and  this  plague 
destroys  fifty  million  dollars'  worth  of  property 
every  year.  Naturally,  the  country  villages 
suffer  most,  and  as  there  personal  property  is 
rarely  insured,  it  will  be  seen  that  it  is  the  poor- 
est class  of  the  population  which  is  the  most 
cruelly  affected. 

The  fact  that  the  Russian  people  have  this 
constant  sensation  of  international  insecurity 
has  been  the  means  of  driving  it  to  granting  so 
large  a  measure  of  authority  to  the  central 
government.  As  the  officials  have  not  been 
slow  to  abuse  this  power,  the  Russian  people 
have  been  obliged  to  submit  to  innumerable 
vexations.  Add  to  this,  serfdom,  which  was 
introduced  in  1596,  and  which  has  been  the 
cause  of  the  most  horrible  injustice  and  abuse. 
In  consequence  of  these  and  many  other  cir- 
cumstances, which  it  would  be  impossible  for 
me  to  set  forth  here,  the  Russian  people  has 
in  truth  been  one  of  the  most  unfortunate  upon 
167 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

the  face  of  the  earth.  History  has  stamped  it 
with  a  large  share  of  melancholy,  combined 
with  a  profound  resignation,  and  with  a  fatalism 
which  is  manifested  in  a  thousand  different 
ways.  The  Russian,  at  tunes,  allows  his  life 
to  glide  along  just  at  it  happens,  without  even 
making  an  effort  to  react  against  his  sad 
destiny.  He  seems  to  be  constantly  asking 
himself,  "What  is  the  use?"— to  be  constantly 
consoling  himself  with  the  reflection  that 
"such  is  the  inevitable  order  of  things."  On 
the  other  hand,  when  lie  makes  up  his  mind 
to  act,  his  fatalism  causes  him  to  have  great 
faith  in  his  lucky  star.  The  "go  ahead"  of  the 
Americans  has  its  countorjiart  in  the  Russian 
"avos."' 

It  is  said  that  fatalism  conduces  to  acciuies- 

(')  "Avos"  is  ftn  adverb  whicli  exists  in  no  other 
langujige.  It  corrfisponds  to  the  French  expression  "i\ 
hi  grAcc  dc  Dicii."  More  literally  it  means  "jjerliaps"! 
The  "Quien  sahe"  of  tlic  Sjjanisli  is  an  analogous 
expression.  "Perhaps  it  will  succeed;  Ictus  risk  it!" 
is  the  complete  meaning  of  the  word  "avos." 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

cence.  This  is  not  always  true,  for  that  it 
sometimes  provokes  to  action,  we  must  admit. 
Together  with  evidences  of  an  extreme  conser- 
vatism, the  Russian  people  give  also  at  times 
proofs  of  an  endless  spirit  of  adventure,  so  to 
speak.  The  occupation  of  Siberia  is  one  of  the 
best  examples  of  this.  Single  individuals  have, 
during  more  than  three  centuries,  been  in  the 
habit  of  venturing  into  this  region,  and  have 
been  stopped  only  on  reaching  the  polar  ice  and 
the  waters  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  occupa- 
tion of  the  Russian  Far  East  has  been  much 
more  difficult  than  that  of  the  American  Far 
West,  if  only  for  the  reason  that  the  greater 
part  of  it  was  undertaken  in  the  seventeenth 
and  eighteenth  centuries,  before  the  advent  of 
steam  and  telegraphy. 

It  is  true,  then,  that  melancholy  and  fatalism 
are  characteristic  traits  of  the  Russian  people, 
who  certainly  cannot  be  ranged  among  the 
cheerful  nations  of  the  earth.  The  Russian 
has  also,  however,  times  of  mad  exuberance, 
169 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

when  he  abandons  himself  entirely  to  pleasure. 
At  such  times  the  inequality  of  his  character 
is  apparent  in  its  greatest  extent. 

There  may  be  observed  among  the  Russian 
people  a  large  element  of  generosity.  The 
Russians  are  fond  of  saying  that  the  national 
mind  is  singularly  free  from  all  niggardly  ele- 
ments. Exceptions  are  doubtless  in  evidence 
here  and  there;  some  are  to  be  found  who  are 
very  economical,  and  there  are  even  misers, 
but  that  is  not  the  dominant  type  of  the 
nation.  Tn  the  inmiense  majority  of  the  cases, 
the  Russian  is  hospitable,  and  thinks  nothing 
of  the  expense  when  it  is  a  question  of  his  own 
amusement,  or  that  of  others.  A  great  many 
Russians,  too,  live  beyond  their  means,  and 
are  in  constant  pecuniary  embarrassments. 
And  generosity  in  money  affairs  is  duplicated 
by  a  universal  generosity  in  personal  relations. 
The  Russian  is  generally  very  tolerant  in  social 
inlcrcourse.  lie  is  lenient  in  judging  the  con- 
duct f)f  others,  and  easily  overlooks  violations 
170 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

of  morality  committed  by  his  associates.  Aus- 
terity has  but  a  small  place  iu  his  conception 
of  things.  Many  foreigners,  the  English  above 
all,  are  amazed  at  the  tolerance  which  reigns  in 
Russia  with  regard  to  social  affairs.  Society 
exercises  but  a  feeble  restraint  upon  the  indi- 
vidual, and  permits  him  to  live  as  seems  best 
to  himself.  Whether  a  person  goes  to  church 
every  Sunday  or  not,  is  something  about  which 
people  trouble  themselves  very  little  in  Russia. 
One  might  say  that  to  compensate  for  their 
lack  of  political  liberty  the  Russians  allow 
themselves  a  very  large  share  of  social  liberty. 
Thanks  to  the  good  nature  and  tolerance  of 
the  nation,  social  intercourse  is  marked  by  a 
spirit  of  great  cordiality  among  the  Russians. 
Among  their  equals,  they  call  each  other  by 
their  Christian  names,  accompanied  by  that  of 
the  father,  with  a  termination  which  shows  the 
affiliation,  as,  for  example,  Alexander  Nicolae- 
vitch  (Alexander,  son  of  Nicholas).  This  cus- 
tom lends  great  simplicity  to  the  intercourse 
171 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

between  individuals,  for  it  is  almost  invariably 
used  even  between  people  of  different  hierarch- 
ical rank.  Thus,  in  society,  for  instance, 
between  officers  and  generals,  when  off  duty. 
The  appellations  which  are  used  in  dealing  with 
the  common  people  are  also  very  caressing: 
"batiouchka"  (httle  father),  "goloubtchik" 
(little  pigeon),  etc.,  etc. 

In  general,  a  certain  democratic  equality 
pervades  the  intercourse  between  classes  even 
of  a  very  different  social  status.  There  are, 
however,  unfortunate  exceptions  to  this.  Many 
Russians  belonging  to  the  former  generation 
have  not  yet  given  up  the  custom  of  addressing 
the  common  people  with  "thee"  and  "thou," 
though  this  remnant  of  former  lack  of  courtesy 
shows,  happily,  an  increasing  tendency  to  dis- 
appear. 

Having  discussed  their  good  qualities,  I  must 

now  indicate  some  of  the  defects  which  are  very 

frequent  among  the  Russians.     They  are  usually 

very  careless,  both  in  their  dress,  and  more  par- 

172 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

ticularly  in  their  business  affairs.  They  have 
Httle  of  the  systematic  temperament.  They 
are  also  very  proHx,  and  have  no  more  idea  how 
to  introduce  order  into  a  statement  of  their 
ideas  than  into  the  management  of  their  house- 
holds. The  Russians  also  have  rather  an 
indifferent  idea  of  punctuality,  and  do  not  yet 
appreciate  the  value  of  time,  for  themselves, 
nor,  imhappily,  for  others.  Neither  is  their 
good  faith  very  extraordinary,  and  in  economic 
relations  it  is  often  necessary  to  take  many 
legal  precautions  when  dealing  with  them. 
''Time  is  money,"  and  "Honesty  is  the  best 
policy"  are  proverbs  which  have  not  as  yet 
received  a  very  general  application  in  Russia. 
It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  the 
level  of  morality  in  business  affairs  is  at  all  like 
that  to  be  found  in  Spain.  Certainly  not !  One 
may  even  point  out  some  sufficiently  conspicu- 
ous features  of  honesty.  Thus,  private  indi- 
viduals, in  making  payments,  often  give  rolls 
of  gold  wrapped  in  paper.  These  are  usually 
173 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

taken  without  being  opened,  and  it  is  very 

rare  that  there  is  any  cheating.     This  is  no 

longer   true,  however,  of   cheques.     These  are 

carefully  verified  by  the  banks,  before  being 

paid. 

IV.    Intellect. 

We  pass  now  to  the  domain  of  thought, 
which  is  the  proper  sphere  of  a  national  psy- 
chology. I  shall  dwell  somewhat  longer  upon 
this;  I  shall  speak  of  both  philosophy  and 
religion,  but  only  briefly,  of  course,  as  com- 
ports with  the  limits  of  this  article. 

Beginning  with  philosophy,  I  shall  observe, 
in  the  first  place,  that  Russia  has  produced  no 
great  original  philosophical  system,  like  that  of 
Descartes,  of  Leibnitz,  of  Spinoza,  or  Hegel, 
Doubtless  the  absence  of  the  liberty  of  the 
press  has  in  a  certain  measure  contributed  to 
this  result.  A  Russian  book,  in  which  it  was 
said  that  Jesus  was  merely  the  son  of  Joseph, 
a  carpenter  at  Nazareth,  would  not  be  suffered 
to  pass  by  the  censor.  It  will  be  understood 
174 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

that  under  such  conditions  as  these,  it  would 
be  somewhat  difficult  to  produce  a  complete 
system  of  philosophy,  to  state  one's  ideas  with- 
out reserve,  and  with  the  purpose  of  saying 
only  what  one  believed  to  be  true.  The  fact, 
however,  should  be  taken  into  consideration 
that  Descartes,  Spinoza,  Leibnitz,  and  Voltaire 
wrote  at  a  time  when  censorship  was  hardly 
more  tolerant  than  it  is  in  Russia  to-day.  In 
reality,  researches  which  are  purely  abstract 
into  the  domain  of  psychology  or  metaphysics, 
receive  a  sufficiently  wide  toleration  in  the 
empire  of  the  Czars.  Besides,  if  a  Russian 
author  were  imable  to  have  his  philosophical 
works  printed  in  his  own  country,  there  would 
have  been  nothing  to  prevent  his  having  it 
done  in  a  foreign  one. 

The  absence  of  great  philosophical  systems 
may  be  easily  explained,  moreover,  in  other 
ways.  Russian  thought  began  to  mature  in 
the  second  half  of  the  nineteenth  century.  But 
at  that  time  the  construction  of  great  philo- 
175 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

sophical  systems  had  been,  so  to  speak,  given  up. 
The  last  great  system  of  Europe, — that  of  evo- 
lution,—formulated  by  Herbert  Spencer,  is 
rather  a  systemization  of  the  sciences,  in  accord- 
ance with  a  general  plan,  than  a  philosophical 
construction  in  the  true  acceptation  of  the 
term. 

In  any  case,  whether  owing  to  the  influence 
of  obstacles  of  a  political  nature,  or  that  the 
historical  era  was  not  propitious,  it  is  still  true 
that  Russia  has  produced  no  national  philo- 
sophical synthesis.  There  is,  as  yet,  no  system 
which  may  be  called  the  purely  Russian  philoso- 
phy. It  is  sufficiently  difficult  even  to  discover 
which  of  the  great  systems  of  Western  Europe 
is  really  most  highly  esteemed  in  Russia,  and 
possesses  the  greatest  number  of  adherents. 
Heine  said  that  the  real  philosophy  of  Germany 
was  Pantheism.  We  should  be  quite  at  a  loss 
to  formulate  any  such  proposition  in  regard  to 
Russia.  Without  contrasting  doctrin(\s  as  op- 
posed to  each  other,  such  as  Deism  and  Panthe- 
176 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

ism,  one  would  find  it  very  difficult  to  say 
whether  the  Russian  mind  is  more  mystical 
or  positivist.  A  great  number  of  observers, 
especially  foreigners,  would  incline  without 
hesitation  to  the  theory  of  mysticism.  The 
Russian  mind  seems  to  them  to  have  something 
about  it,  the  outlines  of  which  are  indefinite 
and  not  to  be  distinguished  from  the  mystical. 
This  is  the  case,  above  all,  in  politics,  as  I 
shall  have  occasion  to  show  later.  To  say, 
however,  that  mysticism  is  the  most  pro- 
noimced,  or  even  the  wholly  predominant  trait 
of  the  Russian  mind,  would  not  be  absolutely 
true.  There  is  in  it,  also,  very  strong  current 
not  only  of  realism,  but  even  of  positivism.  A 
large  number  of  Russians  regard  metaphysical 
and  mystical  abstractions  with  a  contempt  as 
profound  as  it  is  unfeigned.  When  statistics 
are  taken  of  the  blonds  and  brunettes  among 
the  Russians,  it  is  seen  that  fifty-one  in  a  hun- 
dred have  dark  hair,  and  forty-nine  in  a  hun- 
dred have  light  hair.  If  statistics  of  the  Rus- 
177 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 


sian  mind  could  be  taken,  it  would  perhaps  be 
found,  also,  that  out  of  one  hundred  individu- 
als forty-nine  were  mystics,  and  fifty-one  posi- 
tivists.  But,  of  course,  such  a  table  of  statis- 
tics is  out  of  the  question.  We  must  turn, 
then,  to  the  publications  and  teachings  of  phi- 
losophy. 

Of  what  has  been  written  we  must,  of  course, 
notice  the  different  periods.  Toward  1840, 
Russia  was  in  great  part  Hegelian.  Later, 
toward  1860,  there  was  a  violent  outbreak  of 
Materialism.  Biichner  and  Moleschott  enjoyed 
there  an  enormous  prestige.  A  constellation 
of  Russian  publicists,  with  Pisemski  at  the 
head,  threw  themselves  with  ardor  into  the 
Materialistic  movement,  putting  the  greatest 
amount  of  fervor  into  undermining  the  ancient 
idols.  It  was,  to  a  certain  extent,  from  this 
intellectual  tendency  that  Nihilism  sprang. 
When,  after  the  assassination  of  Alexander  II., 
Nihilism  again  subsided,  it  seemed  as  if  Russian 
thought  turned  away  from  great  speculations. 
178 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

For  more  than  twenty  years  Russia  has  seemed 
to  live  without  a  philosophy.  Herbert  Spen- 
cer's theory  of  evolution  has  gained  some  adher- 
ents in  Russia,  as  well  as  some  of  the  other 
systems,  but  without  penetrating  as  deeply  into 
their  minds  as  the  Materialism  of  Biichner  and 
Moleschott. 

No  remarkable  original  work,  consecrated  to 
philosophy,  has  appeared  in  recent  years,  in 
Russia.  Tolstoi,  after  having  written  very 
remarkable  novels,  has  published  different 
articles  on  religion,  in  which  he  has  been  led 
to  consider  certain  philosophical  questions; 
but  he  has  done  so  only  in  passing,  without 
devoting  any  great  amount  of  attention  to  them. 

What  is  there  in  store  for  the  future?  After 
the  lull  and  languor  which  have  fallen  upon 
Russian  thought,  at  the  present  time,  what  may 
be  expected  to  happen?  Let  me  venture  an 
hypothesis  which  I  admit  in  advance  to  be  a 
purely  personal  intuition.  It  seems  to  me  that 
Monism  will  be  the  future  philosophy  of  Russia. 
179 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

This  doctrine  appears  to  me  to  be  the  one 
which  will  be  most  probably  accepted  by  all 
other  countries,  and,  I  think,  it  will  end  by 
conquering  Russia  also. 

If,  after  the  philosophy,  I  am  asked  what  is 
the  religion  of  the  Russians,  I  shall  be  even 
more  at  a  loss  for  a  reply. 

It  may  be  said,  in  the  first  place,  that  there 
are  almost  as  many  religions  in  Russia  as  there 
are  ethnical  groups.  In  the  Baltic  provinces 
and  in  Finland,  Protestantism  prevails.  Poland 
is  Catholic.  In  the  ancient  principality  of 
Lithuania,  (the  western  Russia  of  the  present) 
the  nobility  and  the  upper  middle  class  are 
Catholics,  the  peasants  in  the  country  districts 
orthodox.^  In  the  south  there  are  the  Mussul- 
mans in  Crimea,  in  the  east  Mussulmans  again, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Volga.     Add  to  this  four 

(•)  You  know  that  this  is  the  name  by  which  that 
branch  of  the  Christian  Churcli,  which  in  the  fifth  and 
sixth  centuries  separated  itself  from  Rome,  is  called; 
the  Greek  Church  of  the  East,  denominated  achismatic 
by  the  Catholics. 

180 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

or  five  million  Israelites,  scattered  throughout 
the  western  provinces  of  the  empire,  and  Protes- 
tants again  on  the  banks  of  the  Volga,  recruits 
from  the  German  colonies. 

Officially  all  great  Russians  are  orthodox, 
Russia  is  still  unhappily  a  confessional  state 
in  every  sense  of  the  word,  and  suffers  the 
unfortunate  consequences  thereof.  The  laws 
are  made  to  uphold  orthodoxy.  Above  all, 
the  Sovereign  and  his  family  must  be  orthodox. 
The  state  protects  this  form  of  religion  by  a  set 
of  laws,  which  practically  abolish  liberty  of 
conscience  in  the  Empire  of  the  Czars.  Reply- 
ing to  a  petition  which  had  been  addressed  to 
him  in  favor  of  toleration  by  an  English  society, 
Mr.  Pobedonostzef,  the  procurator  of  the  Holy 
Synod,^  replied  that  religious  toleration  was  the 

(')  The  Russian  Church  is  administered  by  a  superior 
council  of  three  archbishops  nominated  by  the  Emperor. 
The  Emperor  has,  besides,  a  delegate  in  this  council, 
who  is  the  procurator  of  the  Synod.  In  reality  all  the 
power  in  administrative  affairs  belongs  to  the  procura- 
tor. It  is  said  that  the  Emperor  is  pope  in. Russia. 
If  it  is  meant  by  that  that  the  Emperor  interferes  in 

181 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

fundamental  rule  of  the  Russian  Empire.  In 
making  this  reply,  he  was  evidently  playing 
upon  words.  It  is  true  that  Catholics,  Mus- 
sulmans, and  Israelites  are  authorized  to  prac- 
tice their  forms  of  worship  in  Russia.  But 
any  person  who  tries  to  convert  a  member  of 
the  Orthodox  Church  from  his  faith,  even  in  the 
interest  of  another  Christian  profession,  is 
liable  to  exile  in  Siberia.  If  the  conversion 
be  in  the  interest  of  a  non-Christian  religion, 
it  is  forced  labor  for  eight  or  ten  years.  Tol- 
eration must  be  interpreted  in  a  very  narrow 
sense  to  be  understood  in  the  mc^rely  passive 
way  in  which  M.  Pob6donostzef  understands  it. 
Religious   liberty   consists    in   recognizing   the 

dogmatic  questions,  notliiiig  is  iiiorr  uninio.  Never 
lias  tlic  lOriiperor  of  Hiissiu  sliown  any  intention  of 
modifying  one  iota  of  the;  canons  of  the  Churcli  or  of 
tlie  ritual,  liut,  as  regards  the  administration  of  the 
('hurch,  thiH  is  in(lisi)utahiy  in  the  liands  of  tlie  10m- 
peror.  The  nomination  of  the  bishops  cannot  bo  made 
without  his  consent.  Owing  to  thin  power  he  is  al)lc 
to  remove  any  eccleHiastical  dignitary  who  shows  the 
sliglitest  inclination  toward  independence. 

182 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

sacred  and  inviolable  right  of  the  individual  to 
preach  what  seems  to  him  to  be  the  truth. 

Russia  is,  at  the  present  moment,  then,  an 
orthodox  confessional  state,  just  as  England  was 
formerly  an  Anglican  confessional  state. 

Let  us  see,  now,  what  position  is  held  in  Russia 
by  this  orthodoxy,  which  the  government  takes 
under  such  excessive  protection. 

I  do  not  think  it  will  be  paradoxical  to  affirm 
that  orthodoxy  is  the  religion  of  a  very  small 
number  of  the  Great  Russians.  This  is  what 
I  mean.  Greek  Christianity  has  been  preached 
in  Russia  since  the  tenth  century.  And  not- 
withstanding the  long  period  which  has  since 
elapsed,  it  may  be  boldly  asserted  that  it  has 
not  yet  penetrated  into  the  conscience  of  the 
whole  Russian  people;  that  is,  to  no  greater 
degree  than  has  Catholicism  into  the  conscience 
of  some  of  the  Western  nations,  like  the  Italians, 
for  example.  Out  of  one  thousand  Russians, 
eight  or  nine  hundred  (counting  the  women  also) 
would  not  know  how  to  recite,  even  mechani- 
183 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

cally,  the  Nicene  creed.  If  the  individuals 
here  referred  to  were  asked  in  what  they 
beheved,  their  reply  would  be  but  little  sugges- 
tive of  Christianity.  Of  the  one  hundred 
Russians  out  of  the  one  thousand  who  might 
know  the  Nicene  creed,  there  would  be,  perhaps, 
barely  ten  who  would  understand  its  literal 
meaning,  and  one,  perhaps,  who  would  under- 
stand its  doctrinal  meaning.  But,  three  quar- 
ters of  the  time,  those  who  thus  understand  it 
entirely  believe  no  longer  therein. 

In  reality,  Christianity  is  merely  a  veneer  in 
Russia.  It  has  not  as  yet  penetrated  to  the 
consciences  of  the  lower  classes,  and  it  is  already 
given  up  by  the  upper  classes  of  the  nation. 
Conscientious  Christianity  is  the  portion  of  a 
very  small  minority  belonging  to  the  middle 
class  and  the  inferior  nobility. 

But  we  know  how  little  important  is  dogma 

in   religion.     Wliat   man   ardently   seeks   in   a 

faith  is,  first,  a  protector  and  then  that  special 

and  exalted  emotion  called  religious  sentiment. 

184 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

The  more  unhappy  a  people  is,  the  less  they  can 
obtain  justice  here  below,  the  more  do  they 
appeal  to  Heaven  for  it.  We  have  said  before 
that  the  Russian  people  was  but  poorly  pro- 
vided in  the  matter  of  happiness.  They  live 
in  a  severe  climate,  which  permits  of  little 
indolence  and  little  of  the  dolce  far  niente. 
On  the  other  hand,  much  of  Russia  is  but 
moderately  fertile.  The  Russian  people  is  no 
better  off  with  regard  to  politics.  The  nation 
has  pr.actically  no  resource  from  the  arbitrari- 
ness and  exactions  of  officials,  who  take  both 
their  time  and  their  money.  It  is  natural  that 
this  people  should  feel  more  than  any  other  the 
need  of  having  recourse  to  divine  protection. 
They  address  themselves  to  God,  to  Jesus 
Christ,  to  the  Virgin,  and  to  the  Saints.  Hence 
the  great  amount  of  devotion  to  be  observed 
in  Russia,  the  pilgrimages,  the  worship  of 
miraculous  images,  the  crowds  of  people  who 
flock  to  the  churches. 
On  the  other  hand,  adoration  is  the  act 
185 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

which  satisfies  the  necessity  for  religious  exal- 
tation inherent  in  the  human  soul.  The  Rus- 
sians give  themselves  up  more  ardently  to 
exterior  forms  of  worship  than  do  the  French, 
the  English,  or  the  Americans.  This  comes, 
it  seems  to  me,  from  the  fact  that  its  civiliza- 
tion being  less  advanced,  the  only  means  of 
satisfying  its  emotional  needs  which  it  possesses, 
is  religious  worship.  But  these  forms  of  wor- 
ship have  upon  them  a  purely  hypnotic  effect. 
The  Russian  people  understand  almost  nothing 
of  what  the  priest  is  saying  during  Mass.  They 
probably  do  not  know  even  that  the  orthodox 
Mass  is  a  commemoration,  symbolical  of  the 
sacrifice  made  by  the  Son  of  God  to  redeem 
mankind.  The  Russian  priests  make  every 
clTort  to  give  the  parts  of  the  Mass  which  are 
read  in  a  totally  incomprehensible  manner. 
They  are  perfectly  right  in  this,  for  if  the  words 
of  the  service  were  clearly  understood  they 
would  appeal  directly  to  the  inloIligonr(%  and 
would  not  produce  their  intended  effect,  namely, 
186 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

a  purely  sentimental  suggestion.  The  ortho- 
dox Mass  is  singularly  ritualistic.  It  is  no  liv- 
ing condition,  but  is  congealed  within  forms 
which  have  endured  for  centuries.  The  East- 
ern Church  sustains  the  principle  that  what  is 
true  cannot  change.  Thus  she  modifies  in  no 
particular,  either  her  form  of  worship  or  her 
dogmas.  Preaching  is  disappearing  more  and 
more  in  the  Russian  Church.  Sermons  are 
given  only  on  rare  occasions.  There  are  two 
reasons  for  this.  First,  because  preaching  has 
very  little  object,  when  it  is  asserted  beforehand 
that  there  is  not  an  iota  of  anything  to  change 
in  the  traditions  of  the  past.  Jesus,  on  the  con- 
trary, it  is  true,  modified  or  obliterated  that 
which  had  been  "said  to  them  of  old  time," 
by  his  own  "I  say  unto  you,"  and  it  was  just 
to  maintain  this  new  doctrine,  which  had  not 
been  said  to  them  of  old  time,  that  Jesus 
preached  his  sermons.  If  it  had  not  been  for 
that  we  would  have  had  no  reason  for  speaking. 
The  second  circumstance  which  lias  caused 
187 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

preaching  tx3  be  given  up  by  the  Russian  church 
is  the  distrust  of  the  government.  The  priest 
who  wishes  to  dehver  a  sermon  must  first  write 
it,  and  then  submit  it  to  the  approval  of  his 
bishop.  Then  only  may  he  read  it  in  church. 
But  he  is  forbidden  to  say  anything  more  than 
what  he  has  put  down  in  his  notes;  he  may 
not  improvise,  or  let  himself  go,  under  the 
inspiration  of  the  moment,  and  speak  freely. 
One  may  imagine  that,  under  such  circum- 
stances, very  few  priests  in  Russia  care  to  sub- 
mit to  the  drudgery  of  delivering  sermons, 
and  when  they  do  decide  to  do  so,  the  faithful 
listen  to  them  with  the  most  profound  weari- 
ness. First,  because  they  are  generally  deliv- 
ered in  a  cold,  monotonous  tone,  and  because, 
too,  nino-tenths  of  the  time  they  arc  utterly 
meaningless.  The  absence  of  liberty  has  killed 
the  eloquence  of  the  pulpit  in  Russia. 

We  may  make  still  another  observation  which 
will  show  how  little  Christianity  has  entered 
inUj  the  Russian  soul.     For  the  nine  centuries 
188 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

during  which  they  have  been  Christians,  the 
Russians  have  not  introduced  one  atom  of  hfe 
into  orthodoxy.  Look  at  France  and  Catholi- 
cism. During  the  Middle  Ages,  and  in  modern 
times,  France  has  repeatedly  been  a  leader  of 
Catholic  thought.  The  University  of  Paris  has, 
at  different  times,  possessed  the  most  remark- 
able theologians  of  Western  Christianity. 
There  has  been  nothing  like  this  in  Russia. 
There,  they  have  accepted  the  Byzantine  ritual 
without  change.  The  Russians  have  confined 
their  pride  to  interpreting  the  Greek  texts 
with  the  most  complete  and  servile  literalness. 
The-  Russian  Church  has  not,  in  its  nine  cen- 
turies of  existence,  given  to  the  world  either  a 
great  theologian,  or  a  great  doctor  of  the  faith, 
or  a  saint  who  is  at  all  remarkable  or  out  of  the 
ordinary,  or  a  celebrated  missionary,  or  even 
a  great  preacher.  The  only  new  element  which 
the  genius  of  the  Russian  people  has  introduced 
into  the  mummified  body  of  the  Orthodox 
Church  is  music.  There,  they  have  been  crea- 
189 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

tive,  and  wonderfully  creative.  The  celebrated 
musician,  Berlioz  after  hearing  Mass  sung  by 
the  choir  of  the  cathedral  in  St.  Petersburg, 
cried  out,  "I  do  not  know  how  they  sing  in 
Paradise,  but  it  seems  to  me  that  it  cannot  be 
very  much  better  than  this."  The  music  of 
the  Russian  Church,  which  developed  especially 
at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  and  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  forms  an  entirely 
original  school;  it  derives  inspiration  from  no 
other,  and  its  grandeur  is  at  times  as  wonderful 
as  its  originality.  The  Russian  Church  allows 
no  instrument  to  be  used  in  its  service;  not 
even  the  most  divine  instrument  of  man's  inven- 
tion,— the  organ.  The  entire  Mass  is  thus  sung 
by  choirs  composed  entirely  of  men,  in  which 
little  boys  take  the  soprano  and  contralto 
parts. 

Is  the  Russian  people,  then,  essentially  reli- 
gious or  free  thinking?    Foreigners  would  all 
reply  with  one  voice;,  "It  is  religious;  it  is  even 
the  most  religious  of  the  nations  of  Euroi)e." 
]00 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

Certainly,  to  judge  by  appearances  (the  only 
thing  by  which  a  stranger  can  judge,  since  he 
must  look  on  the  outside  only),  the  Russian 
people  are  very  religious,  for  it  is  prodigal  of 
its  proof  of  devotion.  But  there  are  many 
signs,  too,  which  indicate  their  complete  indif- 
ference in  matters  of  religion.  You  must 
know,  first,  that  in  Russia  the  Church  alone 
holds  the  records  of  the  civil  State,  and  that 
she  alone  can  dispense  certain  sacraments 
which  are  of  the  greatest  civil  and  political 
importance.  There  is  no  marriage  in  Russia 
other  than  the  religious  one.  Consequently, 
there  is  no  other  way  of  contracting  a  legal 
marriage  than  by  going  to  church.  Baptism 
is  also  of  enormous  importance.  It  alone  can 
establish  the  affiliation  which  transmits  heredi- 
tary rights,  civil  as  well  as  political.  In  Russia 
the  citizens  are  divided  into  several  different 
social  classes  (peasants,  artisans,  merchants, 
nobles,  etc.),  whose  privileges  are  far  from 
being  equal.  Tliere  are,  besides,  the  ''non- 
191 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

Christians"^  who  are  there  deprived  of  a  great 
number  of  rights. 

Since  the  certificate  of  baptism  constitutes 
the  sole  act  of  the  civil  state,  its  importance 
may  be  readily  understood.  A  Russian  be- 
longing to  a  family  which  is  officially  orthodox 
may  be  in  vain  the  most  liberal  thinker  in 
the  world;  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to 
neglect  having  his  child  christened,  for  without 
that,  it  would  not  be  considered  legitimate. 

The  Russian  clergy  are  not  paid  by  the 
State.  The  expense  would  be  beyond  its 
means.  There  are  nearly  three  hundred  and 
twenty-five  thousand  parishes  in  Russia.  Now,  if 
each  had  a  single  priest,  and  he  were  given 
but  five  hundred  dollars  a  year,  it  would  neces- 
sitate under  this  head  alone  an  annual  expen- 
diture of  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  million 
dollars,  which  would  be  about  a  third  of  the 

(•)  This  name  denotes,  above  all,  the  unfortunate 
Israelites,  who,  in  these  recent  years  of  reaction  have 
been  reduced  to  mediaival  being  considered  almost 
Pariahs. 

192 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

ordinary  Russian  budget.  For  their  support 
the  priests  in  the  country  have  had  assigned 
to  them  two  sources  of  revenue :  a  plot  of  ground, 
which  they  may  cultivate  on  their  own  account, 
and  sometimes  with  their  own  hands,  and 
the  traffic  in  sacraments.  The  priest  seeks, 
naturally,  the  greatest  amount  of  profit  pos- 
sible. He  sometimes  exacts  for  christenings, 
and  particularly  for  marriages,  fees  which 
the  peasants  are  not  always  able  to  pay. 
Bargaining  begins.  There  are  cases  where 
young  people  are  not  able  to  be  married  for 
weeks  and  months,  because  they  are  unable 
to  pay  the  sum  demanded  by  the  priest  for 
the  religious  ceremony.  It  will  be  understood 
that  such  circumstances  result  in  sufficiently 
unpleasant  relations  between  the  pastor  and 
his  flock.  And,  notwithstanding  these  exac- 
tions, the  Russian  priest  remains  generally 
very  poor,  for  the  reason  that  the  sheep  which 
he  may  shear  have  unfortunately  but  very 
little  wool.  The  Russian  priest  is  ill-informed 
193 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

and  rarely  of  much  elevation  of  character; 
he  is  married,  and  has  many  family  cares; 
and  by  reason  of  all  this,  inspires  but  little 
respect  in  the  faithful.  By  some  he  is  detested 
as  one  who  is  continually  taking  advantage 
of  them,  and  by  others  he  is  little  respected 
on  account  of  an  obvious  lack  of  moral  supe- 
riority. The  relations  between  the  clergy  and 
the  faithful  have  thus  no  deep  cordiality  or 
sympathy  in  Russia. 

Then,  too,  the  churches  are  usually  poor 
and  plain.  They  are  not  open  until  the  hour 
for  service,  and  then  are  filled  with  people. 
The  Russian  (man  or  woman)  in  his  hours 
of  moral  distress  and  anguish  may  not  enter  a 
church  to  collect  himself  and  to  pray.  There 
are  found  none  of  those  cornt^rs,  isolated  and 
at  the  same  time  inspiring,  which  are  to  be 
met  with  in  so  many  of  the  edifices  of  Western 
Europe.  On  llic  oilier  hand,  il  never  oecnrs 
to  any  one  to  lake  counsel  witli  Hie  priest, 
in  niornenls  of  diflicully,  because  I  lie  orthodox 
194 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

clergy  has  so  little  prestige,  and  is  so  little 
respected.  The  priests,  on  their  side,  never 
go  into  the  different  families  to  speak  words 
of  kindness  and  consolation. 

In  consequence  of  this  series  of  circum- 
stances, the  Russian  is  but  moderately  in 
sympathy  with  his  national  Church.  There 
are  millions  of  peasants  in  the  country  who 
might  pass  as  utterly  indifferent  in  matters 
of  religion.  Nor  is  the  Russian  woman  more 
religious  than  the  man.  This  is  no  more  true 
of  the  lower  than  of  the  upper  classes.  It  is 
never  in  Russia,  for  example,  as  it  often  is 
in  France  or  Italy,  where  the  husbands  may 
be  free  thinkers,  and  the  wives  very  devout, 
and  even  bigoted.  The  priest  (contrary  to 
what  is  seen  in  Catholic  countries)  obtains 
no  power  through  the  influence  of  women; 
in  general  his  influence  in  society  amounts  to 
almost  nothing. 

There  may  be  observed  in  Russia,  even 
among  the  common  people,  the  most  complete 
195 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

irreverence  in  regard  to  holy  things.  The 
manner  in  which  the  peasants  speak  of  the 
service  and  the  priests  borders  at  times  upon 
the  most  biting  sarcasm  and  the  most  absolute 
indifference. 

But,  nevertheless,  a  thousand  facts  bear 
witness  that  a  deep  religious  need  torments 
the  Russian  soul,  even  to  its  inmost  recesses. 
This  is  proved,  first,  by  the  multiplying  of 
religious  sects.  Among  the  Catholics  in  France, 
Austria,  and  Italy  there  are  no  longer  heretics 
or  "non-conformists."^  The  last  Western  sect. 
Old  Catholicism,  has  exhibited  a  very  moderate 
amount  of  vitality.  It  died  out  in  a  few  years. 
German  Protestantism,  too,  seems  to  be  irrev- 
ocably fixed   within  the   limits  established   at 

(')  There  is  another  source  of  Russian  non-confor- 
mity, unci  that  is,  tlie  "Old  Heiievers,"  or  rather,  the 
"Old  Rituali.stH."  In  the  seventeenth  century  the 
patriarch  Nicon  caused  the  text  of  the  liturgical  books 
which  had  been  altered  by  the  copyists,  to  be  revised 
and  corrected.  Nuiiu-roiis  persons  would  not  adopt  the 
corrections,  and  se|)arate(l  tlicniselves  from  the  ollicial 
church  under  the  ruune  of  the  "Old  Believers." 

196 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

the  time  of  the  Reformation.  No  breath  of 
anything  new  has  come  to  break  through  them. 
The  Orthodox  Church  in  Russia,  as  a  theo- 
logical and  dogmatic  institution,  is  utterly 
dead.  It  confines  itself  to  its  forms  of  worship 
and  the  ritual.  We  might  say  that  it  was 
supported  in  a  certain  measure  by  right  of 
succession,  being  preserved  for  economic  and 
political  reasons.  The  portion  of  the  Russian 
population  which  has  the  deepest  religious 
needs  finds  nothing  to  satisfy  them  in  the 
established  Church,  which  has  been  for  cen- 
turies congealed  within  cold  and  hieratic 
forms.  The  aspirations  of  the  Russian  people, 
then,  in  matters  of  religion,  rise  far  beyond 
the  established  Church,  and  are  often  in  hos- 
tility to  it.  When  the  priest  of  a  village  is 
too  eager  for  gain,  when  his  conduct  proves 
a  source  of  scandal,  when  revolt  and  indig- 
nation are  excited  against  him,  peasants  then 
separate  from  their  pastor  and  throw  them- 
selves into  the  sects  of  non-conformists,  as 
197 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

happened  in  England  at  the  time  of  the  Refor- 
mation. Some  one  appears,  and  begins  to 
preach  new  doctrines  based  upon  his  own 
private  interpretation  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
It  is  thus  that  innumerable  sects  have  been 
formed  in  Russia.  It  would  take  too  long  to 
enumerate  them  here.  They  have  all  taken 
as  a  foundation  the  Old  and  New  Testaments; 
but  later,  in  the  course  of  their  development, 
they  have  reached  the  greatest  extremes. 
Some  have  returned  to  the  forms  of  the  prim- 
itive Church,  and  have  no  clergy.  Others  have 
become  reconciled  to  Protestantism.  Others 
still,  by  the  strangest  aberrations,  have  en(l(>(l  in 
practices  which  are  monstrous  and  unnatural.* 

Whatover  may  be  the  aberrations  of  these 
sects,  ihv.  intensity  of  their  religious  life  is 
very  great.  One  finds,  too,  among  their  ad- 
herents   all     I  lie    admirable    qualities    of    the 

(')  Tlioso,  for  ox.'unpli',  of  llio  "Rkopizi,"  a  sod  wliich 
i.H  foiindcd  on  ;i  literal  iiitcrprctution  of  tlic  twc^lfth 
vorso  in  the  nineteenth  chapter  of  Saint  Muttliew's 
Gospel. 

198 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

neophyte;  an  extraordinary  sense  of  honesty, 
unHmited  devotion,  and  a  spirit  of  sacrifice 
amounting  to  martyrdom.  A  number  of 
Russian  sectarians  has  recently  arrived  in 
America.  They  are  the  "Doukhobory"  (wrest- 
lers with  the  spirit).  They  have  preferred  to 
leave  their  country  rather  than  submit  to  the 
military  service,  which  they  believe  contrary 
to  the  teachings  of  the  Bible. 

The  Russian  non-conformists  are  the  honor 
and  glory  of  their  country.  If  anything  could 
show  the  depth  of  power,  of  seriousness,  of 
nobility,  and  of  perseverence  which  exists  in 
the  Russian  people,  it  would  be  these  wonder- 
ful men.'  Unhappily  the  present  government, 
misled  by  an  immoderate  love  of  external 
and  bureaucratic  symmetry,  far  from  under- 
standing that  the  non-conformists  are  the  salt 
of  the  Russian  earth,  persecutes  them  in  a 
thousand  ways,  which  are  sometimes  as  cruel 
as  they  are  ineffectual. 

Thus,  after  maintaining  that  the  Russian 
199 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 


people  is  one  of  the  most  indifferent  in  matters 
of  religion,  I  proceed  to  make  exactly  the 
opposite  assertion.  And  this  contradiction 
does  not  spring  from  my  own  mind;  it  is  in 
the  facts  themselves.  Among  an  immense 
people  like  the  Russians,  all  kinds  are  to  be 
met  with;  sceptics  as  well  as  apostles,  full  of 
faith  and  enthusiasm. 

V.    Politics. 

From  religion  to  politics  the  transition  is 
not  so  abrupt  in  Russia  as  in  the  countries 
which  are  non-confessional.  As  the  United 
States  of  America  is  jireeminently  the  r(>pn>- 
sentative  of  the  republican  form  of  government, 
Russia  is  the  recognized  representative,  so 
to  speak,  of  the  autocratic.  Thus,  the  political 
writers  of  almost  every  country  hav(>  foimdcMJ 
upon  this  fact  a  scries  of  far-fet('hc<l  ()|)iirK)ns, 
and  have  built  thereon  veritable  sociological 
romances.  They  have  advanced  the  phenom- 
enon of  heredity,  of  the  innate  inclination 
200 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

of  the  race,  and  a  thousand  other  factors, 
equally  imaginary,  to  prove  that  the  Russian 
people  have  been  moved  to  absolute  mon- 
archy ad  eternum.  They  have  piled  demon- 
stration upon  demonstration  to  show  that 
the  only  form  of  government  conceivable  by 
the  Russian  mind  is  autocracy,  and  that  any 
other  people  in  the  world  might  pass  from 
absolute  monarchy  to  more  liberal  institutions. 
The  Russian  people,  however,  can  never  do 
so,  as  they  allege,  because  of  a  certain  peculiar 
mentality  of  their  own. 

This  assertion  will  not  survive  for  a  moment 
an  examination  of  the  facts,  if  one  take  the 
trouble  to  look  at  these  closely  and  will  nofe 
content  himself  with  indulging  in  mere  in- 
vective. 

In  the  first  place,  autocracy  is  relatively 
a  recent  fact  in  Russia.  The  ancient  Russian 
populations  lived  under  the  administrative 
of  the  clan.  They  then  passed  under  the 
government  of  the  city.  The  political  authority 
201 


THE  RUSSIAN  POEPLE 

of  a  certain  region  was  concentrated  in  a  cen- 
tral town  (oppidum),  which  was  usually  fortified. 
The  organization  of  the  Russian  city  was 
republican.  A  popular  assembly  (the  "vechc"), 
whose  conferences  were  rather  tumultuous, 
gave  a  general  approval  to  the  measures  which 
were  proposed  to  it  by  a  kind  of  senate.  The 
Russian  "veche"  recalls,  in  many  ways,  the 
primitive  assemblies  of  the  Roman  people 
in  the  Forum. 

In  the  ninth  century  Norman  adventurers 
tempted  their  fortunes  in  Russia,  as  they  had 
preivously  done  in  England,  France,  and  Italy. 
One  of  these  Scandinavian  bands,  commanded 
by  a  chief  natiKMl  Rurik,  founded  the  first 
monarchy  in  Russia.  Tlio  monarchial  prin- 
ciple is,  then,  a  foreign  importation  into  the 
country.  All  (he  su|)posed  jjrcdispositions 
of  the  Russian  "race"  for  this  iorm  of  gov- 
ernment are  thus  purely  iniaginary.  Rurik, 
after  having  installed  himself  at  Novgorod 
(which  was,  in  his  time,  a  republic  with  quite 
202 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

a  flourishing  trade),  pursued  his  conquests. 
He  descended  as  far  as  the  Lower  Dnieper, 
and  made  for  himself  a  vast  Empire.  That 
is  to  say,  he  levied  tribute  upon  different 
Russian  cities.  In  accordance  with  the  Ger- 
manic conception  of  that  time,  govermnent 
was  not  looked  upon  as  a  public  office,  but  as 
a  matter  of  private  ownership.  Thus,  the 
descendants  of  Rurik  divided  up  their  father's 
possessions  as  the  sons  of  Louis  le  Debonnaire 
divided  up  the  Empire  of  Charlemagne.  The 
princes  of  the  house  of  Rurik  received  as  their 
share  different  cities,  and  each  created  for 
himself  a  sort  of  kingdom.  But  the  primitive 
organization  of  the  Russian  city  was  not  de- 
stroyed by  the  Norman  invasion.  Some  of 
the  towns  succeeded  in  driving  out  the  descend- 
ants of  Rurik,  and  restored  the  republican 
form  of  government.  Novgorod  retained  this 
form  until  1480,  Pskof  until  1509. 

Others  of  the  cities  kept  their  princes,  but 
without   conceding   to   them   absolute   power. 
203 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

The  relations  established  between  the  prince 
and  his  people  are  not  accurately  known  to 
us.  Thus,  in  spite  of  the  presence  of  the  princes 
of  the  house  of  Rurik,  the  popular  assemblies 
(the  "veche")  continued  to  exist  in  many  of 
the  cities.  We  hear  of  these  assemblies  where 
the  prince  appeared  and  decisions  were  made 
in  common.  In  other  places  the  "veche" 
disappeared  very  early.  It  is  probable,  then, 
that  the  relations  between  the  prince  and 
his  subjects  were  not  very  clearly  or  distinctly 
determined.  It  appears,  also,  that  the  most 
diverse  conditions  prevailed  in  the  different 
cities,  and  that  very  oftc^n  (>v(Tything  depended 
upon  the  personal  (lualities  of  the  reigning 
prince. 

The  princes  of  the  house  of  Rurik  disputed 
the  heritage  of  the  founder  of  their  dynasty, 
just  as  the  Carloviuj^ians  disputed  (he  heritage 
of  Charlemagne.  Even  as  ('liarles  tlu^  Raid 
reestablished,  at  a  certain  time,  the  unity  of 
the  Western  i:;mpire,  ho  did  several  of  the 
204 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

Russian  princes  reunite  a  number  of  prin- 
cipalities, and  attempt  to  restore  the  unity 
of  the  Empire  of  Rurik.  But  this  attempt  was 
neither  a  very  determined  nor  a  very  perma- 
nent one,  and  was,  moreover,  never  crowned 
with  very  lasting  success.  The  only  thing 
established  in  a  settled  and  permanent  man- 
ner was  the  supremacy  of  the  city  of  Kief. 
The  prince  who  reigned  there  was  considered 
the  head  of  the  family  of  Rurik,  and,  as  such, 
exercised  a  sort  of  hegemony,  something  after 
the  fashion  of  an  honorary  presidency.  He 
held  the  title  of  Grand  Prmce.  The  actual 
authority  of  the  Grand  Prince  over  the  other 
principalities  amounted  to  practically  nothing, 
but  his  moral  authority,  if  we  may  so  express 
it,  did  not  fail  to  be  sought  after  by  the  Russian 
princes,  who,  for  a  long  time,  disputed  the  sov- 
ereignty of  Kief  and  the  title  of  Grand  Prince, 
which  accompanied  it.  The  dynasty  which 
reigned  at  Moskow  ended  later  by  appropriating 
this  title  to  itself  in  an  exclusive  manner. 
205 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

Such  was  the  situation  in  Russia  in  the 
twelfth  century.  She  offered  the  spectacle  of 
a  series  of  almost  independent  principalities, 
with  institutions  which  were  badly  administered 
but  in  no  sense  autocratic.  The  advent  of  the 
Mongols  occurred,  and  modified  this  state  of 
affairs. 

The  descendants  of  Rurik  never  completely 
lost  the  idea  of  the  unity  of  their  Empire. 
They  considered  themselves  members  of  one 
body,  and  felt  themselves  different  from  both 
the  Asiatic  tribes  of  the  East,  who  were  usually 
nomadic,  and  the  settled  populations  of  the 
West  (Poles,  Lithuanians, Germans, and  Swedes) . 
Thus,  upon  the  arrival  of  the  Mongols,  the 
princes  of  the  house  of  Rurik  joined  (ogelhcr 
to  withstand  tliciii.  They  made  l)ut  a  feeble 
resistance,  however,  in  conseijuencc'  of  llic 
complete  absence  of  any  unanimity  in  their 
institutions.  The  Russian  principalities  knew 
not  how  to  defend  themselves,  and  ;dl  fell  under 
the  domination  ol  the  Tartars.  The  Republics 
206 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

of  Novgorod  and  Pskof  alone  succeeded  in  pre- 
serving their  independence. 

The  Mongols  did  not  suppress  the  Russian 
principalities,  but  contented  themselves  with 
levying  tribute  upon  them.  But,  none  the  less, 
the  Mongol  yoke  was  a  very  heavy  one,  because 
very  despotic.  Security  disappeared  forever 
for  the  people  of  Russia.  Delegates  from  the 
Mongol  Khan  were  continually  coming  to 
demand  the  payment  of  new  taxes.  The  least 
resistance  brought  down  upon  them  expedi- 
tions which  made  a  merciless  use  at  every  point 
of  fire  and  the  sword.  And,  further,  bands  of 
Mongol  marauders  constantly  overran  the  coun- 
try, and  conducted  forays  on  their  own  account. 

A  universal  law  of  sociology  receives  its  con- 
firmation in  the  history  of  Russia.  And  this 
law  is,  that  the  power  accorded  to  the  central 
government  is  the  direct  result  of  the  political 
insecurity  of  a  country. 

When  the  Russian  populations  were  oppressed 
by  the  Mongols,  they  sought,  naturally,  the 
207 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

protection  of  their  reigning  princes.  To  them 
they  looked  to  put  an  end  to  the  incursions  of 
the  bands  of  marauders.  The  power  of  the 
princes  would  naturally  increase  from  this  very 
fact,  for  they  must  be  furnished  with  the  means 
of  protecting  the  people,  that  is,  they  must 
have  a  stronger  army. 

Among  all  the  Russian  princes,  those  of 
Moscow  (in  consequence  of  circumstances  which 
it  would  take  too  long  to  explain  here)  were 
found  to  best  understand  the  protection  of  their 
subjects.  Their  reputation  as  faithful  protec- 
tors spread  throughout  the  whole  of  Russia, 
and  secunnl  for  them  both  prestige  and  author- 
ity. 

In  the  same  way  that  the  Germanic  princes 
contended  with  ouv  iniotlicr  over  the  {(M-ritorii^s 
in  the  heart  of  \hv  Germanic  l''.in|)ire,  (lie 
Russian  princes  waged  war  over  those  in  \hr 
heart  of  th(^  Empire  of  the  Mf)ngols.  Tlic 
princes  of  Moscow  were  aidt'd  by  n  series  of 
fortunaU;  circumstances.  They  made  iiuiiut- 
208 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

ous  conquests,  aggrandized  their  state  by  dis- 
possessing other  princes  of  the  house  of  Rurik, 
and  became  the  most  powerful  in  Russia. 
Their  ambition  increased  with  their  power. 
They  assumed  the  title  of  Grand  Princes,  and 
claimed  again  that  moral  hegemony  which 
formerly  belonged  to  the  sovereignty  of  Kief. 
The  princes  of  Moscow  had  difficulties  also 
with  their  Mongol  suzerains,  and,  as  soon  as 
they  felt  themselves  sufficiently  powerful, 
entered  into  conflict  with  them.  They  engaged 
in  a  number  of  battles,  and  in  some  were  vic- 
torious. 

The  Russian  people  now  began  to  foresee  a 
possibility  of  ridding  themselves  of  the  Mongols 
by  the  hand  of  the  princes  of  Moscow.  They 
saw  clearly  that  without  a  concentration  of  all 
the  political  power  of  the  Russian  people  the 
removal  of  the  Mongol  yoke  was  impossible. 
They  saw,  too,  that  their  safety  lay  in  the 
unlimiterl  power  of  the  Grand  Prince  who 
reigned  at  Moscow.  Thus,  naturally,  anything 
209 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

which  increased  his  authority  was  looked  upon 
as  beneficial,  while  all  that  tended  to  weaken 
it  was  considered  injurious,  and  therefore  sub- 
versive. 

Thus  was  the  idea  of  autocracy  implanted  in 
Great  Russia.  It  was  not,  as  has  been  too 
repeatedly  asserted,  the  result  of  an  idiosyn- 
crasy of  the  Russian  "race."  It  was,  quite 
simply,  the  result  of  certain  historical  circum- 
stances. The  law  that  political  concentration 
is  the  direct  result  of  insecurity  of  frontier  may 
be  demonstrated  reversely  by  England,  the 
exact  opposite  of  Russia  as  to  political  insti- 
tutions. The  one  is  the  most  constitutional 
nation  in  Europe,  the  other  the  most  auto- 
cratic. But  England  is,  too,  the  country  which 
is  best  protected  by  nature;  Russia  is  the  least 
so.  Complete  security  for  Russian  territory 
was  obtained  only  in  1S81,  aft(^r  the  defeat  of 
tlic  Tekke-Turcomans.  Thus,  only  for  nine- 
teen years  have  the  Russians  enjoyed  the  invio- 
lability of  their  political  frontier,  which  is  a 
210 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

natural  possession  of  the  English,  thanks  to 
their  insular  position.  Liberty  was  early  estab- 
lished in  Great  Britain  for  the  reason  that  there 
has  never  been  any  necessity  for  conceding 
great  military  power  to  the  king.  The  same 
may  be  said  of  the  United  States  of  America. 
It  is  their  isolated  situation,  beyond  the  reach 
of  European  aggression,  which  has  had  a  large 
share  in  enabling  them  to  assume  that  admir- 
able political  decentralization  and  that  personal 
liberty,  which  have  contributed,  in  such  large 
measure,  to  their  prosperity.  France  is  another 
proof  of  what  I  am  saying.  Her  continental 
situation  offers  less  security  than  that  of  Eng- 
land; thus,  her  organization  has  necessarily 
remained  for  a  longer  time  autocratic. 

The  present  situation  in  Russia  is,  so  to 
speak,  diametrically  opposed  to  what  it  was 
in  the  past.  After  living  for  centuries  under 
the  shadow  of  continual  Asiatic  invasions,  it  is 
Russia  herself  who  now  menaces  her  barbarous 
neighbors  on  her  eastern  frontiers.  Russia 
211 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

enjoys  to-day  an  external  security  greater  than 
that  of  almost  any  other  European  power.  In 
case  of  a  general  war,  Austria,  Germany,  and 
Italy  might  have  to  fight  on  two  sides  of  their 
borders,  Russia  on  but  one.  Russia  cannot  be 
surrounded.  For  this  reason,  and,  thanks  to 
the  vast  extent  of  her  territory,  she  is,  so  to 
speak,  unconquerable. 

Since  Russia  now  enjoys  a  security  greater 
than  that  of  her  neighbors,  extreme  concen- 
tration of  power  is  no  longer  necessary.  It 
would  seem  as  if  the  principle  of  autocracy  must 
lose  much  of  its  prestige  in  the  eyes  of  the 
cultured  classes.  And  it  is  so  to  a  certain 
extent.  But  in  human  affairs  the  sublata  causa, 
tollitur  effeduii  is  not  to  be  instantaneously 
applied.  After  an  institution  has  lost  its 
"raison  d'etre,"  it  may  still,  through  force  of 
tradition  and  inertia,  retain  nmch  of  its  power. 

Such  is  the  present  situation  in  Russia. 
Then;  are  already  many  persons  in  the  country 
wIh)  appreciate  the  gn^at  advantage  of  popular 
212 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

representation,  and  look  eagerly  for  its  coming. 
But  it  is  well  to  recognize  that  a  large  number 
of  Russians  still  persist,  eternally  as  it  were, 
in  political  conceptions  of  a  totally  different 
kind.  We  are  not  speaking  of  the  state  officials, 
who  are  afraid  of  losing  their  places,  should 
popular  control  be  established.  These  individ- 
uals are  out  of  the  discussion.  They  oppose 
the  establishment  of  a  parliament,  not  as  a 
matter  of  principle  (for  in  their  inner  con- 
sciences they  recognize  its  advantages),  but 
from  the  promptings  of  a  purely  selfish  interest. 
The  high  officials  who  are  in  this  category  are, 
it  is  true,  very  influential,  but  I  am  of  the 
opinion  that  their  desires  would  not  prevail, 
were  it  not  that  a  large  number  of  individuals 
among  the  upper  class  cling  to  autocracy  on 
principle,  and  not  from  any  personal  advantages 
to  be  derived  therefrom. 

Every   society   nourishes   within   its   breast 
some  individuals  with  antisocial  tendencies.     It 
is  these  persons  who  conscientiously  put  their 
213 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

own  interests  above  those  of  their  country. 
But  these  individuals  cannot  be  continuously 
the  most  powerful  in  the  nation,  for  if  this 
were  so,  the  forces  impelling  toward  dissolution 
would  preponderate  over  the  forces  contrib- 
uting to  cohesion,  and  society  would  be 
dissolved. 

We  must  thus  recognize  that  if  the  autocratic 
principle  still  survives  in  Russia,  it  is  because 
a  large  number  of  Russians  consider  it  bene- 
ficial for  their  country  as  a  whole. 

The  sources  whence  this  idea  proceeds  are 
many,  but  they  are  the  result,  one  and  all, 
of  historical  circumstances. 

The  Russian  mind  has  followed  the  same 
course  of  evolution  as  that  of  other  countries. 
There  may  be  observed  here,  to  a  certain 
extent,  two  of  the  three  states  of  Auguste 
Comte,  the  theological  phase  and  the  meta- 
physical phase.  This  is  what  has  happened. 
While  the  other  nations  of  Western  Europe  had 
already  received  the  positive  phase,  toward  the 
214 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  Russia  has  not, 
as  yet,  even  in  our  day,  attained  to  this.  And, 
again,  this  does  not  proceed  in  any  way  from 
an  innate  quaUty  of  the  Russian  race,  but  from 
circumstances  purely  material  and  social.  Rus- 
sia is  very  poor,  and  its  population  is  widely 
scattered.  For  this  reason,  as  well  as  many 
others,  which  I  cannot  now  enumerate,  educa- 
tion has  spread  very  slowly.  The  number  of 
those  who  are  illiterate  reaches  the  scandalous 
figure  of  seventy-eight  out  of  a  hundred.  The 
higher  education  is  nmch  less  widespread  than 
the  primary.  Briefly,  the  positive  method  of 
reasoning  is  sufficiently  rare  in  Russia,  as  yet, 
and  the  theological  and  metaphysical  methods 
reign  paramount.  A  large  number  of  Russians 
are  still  imbued  with  a  great  deal  of  mysticism, 
and,  above  all,  alas,  with  much  intellectual 
indefiniteness.  Their  faculty  for  analysis  is 
very  feeble.  They  have,  as  yet,  but  a  poor 
idea  of  how  to  class  social  phenomena,  and  to 
give  them  those  clear  outlines  which  are  char- 
215 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

acteristic  of  the  science  of  positivism.  The 
Russians  bring  into  the  State  the  ideas  of  the 
family,  and  make  of  them  an  ideal  which  is 
politically  hazy  and  incapable  of  realization. 
This  ideal  may  be  formulated  thus:  a  sovereign, 
father  of  his  subjects,  governing  well  in  conse- 
quence of  his  affection  for  them,  and,  in  conse- 
quence of  a  consciousness  of  his  duty  as  an 
autocratic  ruler,  towering  above  all  the  rest. 
The  Russian  mystics  have  a  profound  contempt 
for  a  parliament.  They  call  this  a  low  and 
vulgar  institution,  where  takes  place  a  series 
of  compromises  and  bargaining  between  the 
different  interests  at  stake.  Now  this  sort  of 
transaction  is  degrading.  A  government  lowers 
itself  wlien  it  condescends  to  such  maneuvers. 
The  Russian  mystics  affirm  that  a  government, 
really  worthy  of  the  name,  should  consider  the 
interest  of  the  ma.s.s  of  the  people,  (^nly  ;m 
autocrat  ran  acromplish  Ihis  mission,  becau.se 
ho  alorui  has  no  need  to  enter  into  a  compromise 
with  any  one.  Bargaining  and  the  do  ul  des 
21G 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

offer  no  temptation  to  him.  He  can  accom- 
plish the  good  of  all  without  sacrificing  the 
interest  of  one  class  to  that  of  another. 

Naturally,  when  the  mind  of  the  mystic  rises 
to  such  dizzy  heights,  he  loses  all  sense  of 
reality.  The  ultimate  result  of  such  vagaries 
can  but  be  an  entire  weakening  of  the  society 
in  which  they  are  produced.  It  is  enough, 
indeed,  to  place,  for  one  moment,  our  foot  upon 
the  solid  rock  of  positive  facts,  to  witness  the 
immediate  disappearance  of  all  such  mirages. 
The  sovereign  cannot  accomplish  everything  by 
himself.  He  must  delegate  his  powers  to  an 
immense  staff  of  officials.  How  is  it  possible  for 
him  to  control  their  actions,  so  as  to  be  assured 
that  they  conform  to  his  benevolent  and 
paternal  designs?  It  is  evident  that  the  con- 
trol of  some  of  the  officials  by  others  is  abso- 
lutely ineffectual.  For  control  of  any  kind  to 
be  effective  it  must  be  exercised  by  disinter- 
ested persons,  those  outside,  by  individuals, 
that  is,  who  are  not  officials.  On  the  other 
217 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 


hand,  the  mystics  never  take  the  pains  to  study 
accurately  natural  phenomena.  They  do  not 
see  things  as  they  really  are.  From  the  moment 
when  we  apply  ourselves  to  the  study  of  nature 
in  a  positive  spirit,  we  understand  that  each 
little  atom  in  the  universe  is  in  a  constant 
dynamic  state.  It  seems  to  be  trying  to  attract 
everything  to  itself.  It  is  just  the  same  with 
society;  each  individual  is  in  the  dynamic  state 
in  regard  to  his  fellow-creatures.  He  endeavors 
to  compass  his  own  best  welfare.  It  is  from 
the  union  of  such  efforts,  in  opposition,  some 
to  the  others,  that  social  institutions  are  born. 
The  Russian  mystics  make  a  very  great  mistake 
when  they  imagine  that  parliamentary  com- 
promises are  a  proof  of  moral  debasement. 
They  are,  on  the  contrary,  but  checks  and 
counter  checks,  by  moans  of  which  a  social 
ofiuilibrium,  that  is  to  say,  the  greatest  possible 
respect  for  the  rights  of  the  individual  is  main- 
tained. 
M.  Pob<5dono8tzef,  Procurator  of  the  Holy 
2  IS 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

Synod/  has  recently  published  a  series  of 
articles  which  have  been  translated  into  French 
under  the  title  of  "Questions  religieuses,  sociales 
et  politiques.  "^  In  them  he  gives  expression 
to  the  opinion  that  if  all  the  representatives 
of  the  people  were  saints,  the  parliamentary 
regime  would  be  the  very  best  kind  of  all.  But 
as  the  representatives  of  the  people  are  usually 
of  a  more  than  doubtful  morality,  the  parlia- 
mentary regime  is  the  worst.  Here  is  an  excel- 
lent example  of  the  reasoning  of  the  mystic. 
How  is  it  that  M.  Pobedonostzef  does  not  see 
that  the  argument  may  be  turned  directly 
against  absolute  monarchy?  If  all  the  officials 
appointed  by  the  sovereign  were  perfection 
itself,  absolute  monarchy  would  be  the  best 
of   all    forms   of   government.     Is   it   possible 

(')  The  Procurator  of  the  Holy  Synod  (a  sort  of 
minister  of  church  worship)  is  one  of  the  highest  digni- 
taries in  the  Russian  Empire.  Furthermore,  M. 
Pobedonostzef  possessed  great  personal  influence  during 
the  reign  of  Alexander  II.,  which,  in  a  certain  measure, 
he  still  retains. 

C)  Published  at  Paris  by  Baudry  in  1897. 

219 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

that  M.  Podebonostzef  would  have  us  beUeve 
that  it  is  sufficient  for  an  official  to  be  appointed 
by  an  absolute  sovereign  to  ensure  his  being 
immediately  clothed  with  all  the  virtues,  and 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  would  descend  upon  him, 
as  it  descended  formerly  upon  the  apostles? 
Truly,  with  ideas  like  these  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  create  a  positive  and  realistic  political 
system,  for  if  miracles  be  admitted,  the  whole 
scaffolding  of  the  social  science  falls  as  does 
a  castle  of  cards. 

Many  Russians  have  minds  which  are  clouded 
and  visionary,  and  for  the  reason  that  monarchy, 
with  its  right  divine,  is  more  to  their  liking 
than  the  concrete  and  realistic  forms  of  a  parlia- 
mentary monarchy. 

Another  factor  which  has  contributed  toward 
maintaining  the  prestige  of  autocracy  in  Russia 
is  Panslavism. 

From  the  seventeenth  century,  but  partic- 
ularly since  tlie  reign  of  Peter  I.,  (he  sciences, 
letters,  philosophy,  and  art  of  Western  Europe 
220 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

have  made  their  way  into  Russia.  These 
same  branches  of  mental  activity  existed  also, 
it  is  true,  in  the  ancient  Muscovite  Empire, 
but  in  a  rudimentary  form,  in  sad  contrast, 
indeed,  to  that  which  emanated  from  Europe. 
Russia  was  as  if  hypnotized.  She  lived  for 
more  than  a  century  and  a  half  under  the  com- 
plete fascination  of  the  West.  It  seemed  to 
the  Russians  that  never  would  they  be  able, 
not  merely  to  surpass,  but  even  to  equal  their 
models.  Naturally,  no  human  being,  and  no 
society,  can  live  while  constantly  sacrificing 
its  personality.  In  reality,  an  abdication  of 
this  kind  must  lead,  in  the  long  run,  either  to  a 
species  of  mental  death  (in  ordinary  terms  to 
idiocy)  or  else  the  vital  forces  must  react,  and 
come  to  acknowledge  this  personality.  Now, 
the  Russian  people  has  far  too  large  a  share 
of  individuality  for  the  reaction  to  fail  to  set 
m.  It  occurred  m  the  first  half  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  under  the  name  of  Panslavism. 
The  too  great  servility  of  Russian  thought  to 
221 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

that  of  the  West  brought  about,  by  a  natural 
propensity,  an  excessive  reaction  of  the  national 
pride.  The  Panslavists  maintained  that  Russia 
was  entirely  different  from,  and  superior  to, 
the  other  nations  of  Europe.  But  when  it 
became  necessary  to  come  forth  from  the 
clouds  and  to  indicate  the  positive  points  in 
which  this  difference  consisted,  the  Panslavists 
fell  back  principally  upon  these  two  facts, 
communal  property  and  autocracy.  In  certain 
regions  of  Russia,  the  parish  lands  are,  at  specified 
times,  divided  among  the  members  of  the 
rural  community.  The  Panslavists  proceeded 
to  affirm  that  individual  ownership  of  land, 
as  was  the  rule  in  the  other  countries  of  Europe, 
opens  the  door  to  pauperism.  It  divides  society 
into  two  great  classes,  clearly  differentiated, 
the  non-owners,  devoted  to  incurable  poverty, 
and  the  owners,  who  live  by  taking  advantage 
of  the  wretched  people.  The  fundamental 
principle  of  such  an  organization  is,  then,  unjust 
sovereignty.  And,  because  it  is  unjust,  this 
222 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

organization  is  imperfect  and  odious.  There 
is  nothing  of  this  kind  in  Russia,  say  the  Pan- 
slavists.  In  consequence  of  the  communal 
divisions,  every  Russian  is  necessarily  a  land 
owner.  A  proletariat  becomes  forever  impos- 
sible. Contrary  to  that  of  the  West,  the  funda- 
mental basis  of  Russian  society  is  justice.  As 
the  Panslavists,  at  first,  could  discover  no 
distribution  of  land  among  the  Western  nations, 
they  loudly  proclaimed  that  Russia  alone  pos- 
sessed this  admirable  organization,  and  that, 
consequently,  she  was  superior  to  all  the  others. 
It  is  hardly  necessary  to  state  that  these 
arrogant  delusions  will  not  for  a  moment  bear 
the  light  of  criticism.  The  communal  owner- 
ship of  land  is  not  the  exclusive  privilege  of 
Russia.  It  is  an  archaic  and  imperfect  form 
of  landed  proprietorship  which  has  existed  every- 
where, at  less  advanced  epochs  of  social  evolu- 
tion. Furthermore,  all  Russians  do  not  form 
part  of  a  rural  community.  There  are  thus 
proletarians  in  Russia.  And  finally  the  mere 
223 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

fact  of  possessing  the  usufruct  of  a  hectare  of 
poorly  cultivated  land  (and  communal  land 
will  always  be  so)  will  hardly  insure  the  com- 
forts of  life  to  an  entire  family.  And,  in 
truth,  in  spite  of  this  far-famed  communal 
ownership,  the  Russian  peasant  is  the  poorest 
and  most  miserable  of  all  Europe. 

But  the  Panslavists  did  not  perceive  all 
these  objections,  and  proclaimed  that  communal 
proprietorship  placed  the  Russian  people  upon 
a  lofty  pedestal  of  justice  and  brotherhood. 

Beside  communal  ownership,  the  Panslavists 
discovered  another  superiority  belonging  to 
Russia.  This  was,  that  the  States  of  Western 
Europe  were  all  founded  upon  brute  force, 
while  Russia  alone  was  not.  The  States  of 
the  West  were  established  by  Germanic  warrit)r 
chiefs  who  had  taken  possession  of  the  Roman 
provinces.  The  Franks  founded  the  kingdom 
of  France,  the  Angles  that  of  England,  the 
Visigoths  that  of  Spain,  and  so  on.  But 
Russia  wits  not  a  part  of  the  Roman  Empire; 
224 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

she  never  suffered  these  great  invasions.  In 
the  ninth  century  some  Swedish  adventurers, 
it  is  true,  had  come  into  Russia.  But  Rurik 
and  his  companions  did  not  come  as  conquerors. 
They  were  invited  by  the  citizens  of  Novgorod. 

Thus,  while  the  States  of  Western  Europe 
are  based  upon  miUtary  conquests,  and  therefore 
upon  violence  and  brute  force,  the  Russian 
State  is  founded  upon  the  free  will  of  its  citizens, 
therefore  upon  justice,  upon  a  purely  noble 
and  fraternal  basis. 

It  may  be  understood  that  a  military  chief 
who  had  forcibly  annexed  rebellious  populations 
could  not  govern  except  through  fear,  and  in 
his  own  interest.  This  warrior  chief  never 
troubled  himself  about  the  well-being  of  his 
subjects.  He  looked  upon  them  as  a  flock,  to 
be  shorn  to  the  utmost,  as  a  simple  means  of 
procuring  for  himself  the  greatest  amount  of 
wealth.  Such  a  political  foundation  for  a 
State  being  given,  there  was  no  possibility  of 
cordial  relations  being  established  between 
225 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

the  sovereign  and  his  subjects.  The  greatest 
antagonism  must  reign  between  the  monarch 
and  his  people.  It  is  from  this  very  antag- 
onism, according  to  the  Panslavists,  that  parha- 
mentary  governments  have  arisen.  The 
populations  being  too  much  oppressed  revolted. 
They  exacted  guarantees  from  their  rulers, 
and  these  guarantees  were  what  were  called 
constitutional  charters. 

Quite  different  was  the  evolution  of  Russia, 
according  to  the  Panslavists.  Since  the  foun- 
dation of  her  common  law  is  not  brutal  and 
violent  conquest,  no  antagonism  can  exist 
between  the  sovereign  and  his  subjects.  The 
monarchs  of  W(?stcrn  Europe  desired  solely 
their  own  good  and  not  that  of  their  subjects. 
But  a  Russian  autocrat  who  would  not  care 
for  the  good  of  his  people  is  inconceivable,  say 
the  Panslavists.  A  Russian  sovereign  who 
should  i)ut  his  own  interests  above;  those  of 
his  subjects,  would  be  a  contradiction  which 
is  in  itself  quite  impossible. 
220 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

It  is  through  this  kind  of  argument  that  the 
Panslavists  have  estabUshed,  anew,  a  capital 
distinction  between  Russia  and  the  other  nations. 
These  other  reprobate  nations  have  sovereigns 
who  desire  the  unhappiness  of  their  subjects, 
and  who  consequently  cannot  love  them. 
Russia,  on  the  contrary,  is  the  righteous  nation 
par  excellence.  Her  sovereign  wishes  only 
the  welfare  of  his  subjects;  he  loves  them,  he 
is  their  father.  To  establish  the  rights  of  the 
citizens  against  the  sovereign  is  of  some  use 
when  the  sovereign  wishes  evil  to  his  subjects, 
but  to  establish  them  when  he  desires  their 
good -is  useless,  and  is  to  little  purpose.  On 
the  other  hand,  to  prevent  the  sovereign  from 
compassing  the  good  of  his  subjects  is  to  desire 
ill  to  the  nation;  it  is  to  create  tendencies  which 
are  antisocial.  Consequently,  any  attempt 
having  for  its  object  the  limiting  of  the  power 
of  the  monarch,  being  antisocial,  is  criminal 
and  subversive.  And,  consequently,  auto- 
cracy is  the  "Holy  Ark"  of  the  Russian  nation; 
227 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

it  is  the  institution  which  differentiates  it  entirely 
from  the  other  nations  of  the  West,  and  which 
places  it  anew  upon  an  elevated  pedestal  of 
greatness  and  justice. 

Thus  reason  the  Panslavists.  It  is  with 
this  as  with  the  division  of  communal  land; 
it  is  hardly  necessary  to  demonstrate  that 
their  arguments  are  not  founded  upon  a 
knowledge  of  history  and  social  science.  In 
the  first  place,  Rurik  was  as  wholly  a  warrior 
chief  as  Robert  Guiscard.  The  foundation 
of  the  Scandinavian  domination  in  Russia  is 
the  same  as  that  of  the  Norman  rule  in  Neustria 
or  at  Naples.  The  princes  of  Moscow  after- 
wards acquired  the  other  Russian  principalities 
by  fire  and  sword,  exactly  as  the  kings  of 
France  acquired  their  possessions.  The  foun- 
dation of  the  Russian  State  is  as  much,  then, 
violent  and  brutal  conquest  as  that  of  the 
Western  States.  And,  further,  the  Russian 
Stat(»  is  composed  of  a  large  number  of  hetero- 
geneous ethnical  elements,  who  have  not  all 
228 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

even  yet  received  the  right  of  citizenship.  If, 
then,  the  sovereign  of  Russia  is  the  father 
of  his  subjects,  it  is  well  to  recognize  that 
his  affection  is  very  unequally  bestowed  upon 
his  children. 

Little  as  the  theories  of  the  Panslavists 
may  savor  of  positivism,  they  have,  in  large 
measure,  contributed  toward  increasing  the 
prestige  of  the  autocratic  idea  in  Russia. 

Another  fact  which  contributes  to  the  same 
result  is  the  democratic  tendency  of  the  Russian 
people. 

Russia  is  a  vast  plain,  nearly  destitute  of 
any  beautiful  material  for  building  purposes. 
The  castle,  the  seignioral  dwelling,  erected 
upon  a  hill  which  is  visible  from  a  great  distance, 
built  from  material  capable  of  resisting  the 
wear  of  centuries,  and  exhibiting  architectural 
beauties  which  are  the  pride  of  the  district, — 
this  kind  of  dwelling,  it  has  not  been  possible 
to  build  in  Russia.  The  castles  on  the  banks 
of  the  Rhine,  even  when  in  ruins,  preserve 
229 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

still  a  powerful  and  picturesque  individuality, 
which  renders  them  celebrated  for  miles  around. 
The  name  of  the  Count  of  Rheinfels,  pronounced 
in  former  times  in  the  presence  of  a  peasant 
of  Nassau,  would  produce  in  his  mind  the 
idea  of  a  very  powerful  noble,  because  the 
magnificent  Castle  of  Rheinfels,  of  which  this 
count  was  the  owner,  was  known  and  admired 
throughout  the  entire  region.  In  England, 
the  seignioral  dwellings  of  some  of  the  nobility 
are  among  the  most  remarkable  of  the  architec- 
tural monuments  of  the  country,  and  their 
owners  share  in  the  celebrity  of  their 
castles. 

It  has  never  been,  and  is  not  yet,  so  in  Russia. 
The  homes  of  the  boyars  wore  formerly  of  wood 
or  brick,  and  almost  always  little  remarkable 
in  point  of  architecture.  Then,  too,  the  life 
of  the  nobility  was  not  conspicuous,  and  made 
hut  small  impression  upon  the  people. 

On  the  f)tlior  hand,  the  law  of  primogeniture 
has  never  been  implanted  in  Russia. 
230 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

No  matter  how  illustrious  a  family,  from  the 
single  fact  that  the  title  passed  to  all  the  male 
descendants,  it  might  be  borne  by  some  indiv- 
iduals whose  condition  of  fortune  was  of  the 
most  moderate.  The  title,  for  the  same  reason, 
lost  its  prestige. 

It  must  be  said,  further,  that  the  source  of 
the  Russian  nobility  is  not  always  of  the  purest. 
It  originates,  for  the  most  part,  in  administrative 
or  military  offices.  The  lowest  of  the  peasants 
may  enter  the  service  of  the  State;  if  he  attain 
a  certain  grade  in  the  administrative  hierarchy, 
he  acquires  hereditary  nobility.  But  state 
officials  receive  but  a  moderate  amount  of 
esteem 5  admiration,  and  sympathy;  and  for 
a  very  good  reason.  This  administrative 
nobility  enjoys  but  a  small  amount  of  prestige. 
Add,  further,  that  the  nobles  in  Russia  had 
for  a  long  time  been  in  the  enjoyment  of  a 
privilege  as  useless  as  it  was  odious.  They 
alone  had  the  right  to  own  serfs.  They  abused 
this  right  in  a  revolting  manner,  and  very 
231 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

naturally,  therefore,  were  not  much  loved  or 
respected  by  the  masses  of  the  people. 

Thus  the  Russian  nobility  had  no  traits  which 
brought  them  out  in  a  certain  powerful  relief 
from  the  other  classes  of  society;  they  had 
neither  prestige  nor  popularity,  and  for  these 
reasons  the  Russian  people  has  become  demo- 
cratic, and  upon  this  democratic  sentiment  the 
few  attempts  in  the  annals  of  Russian  history 
to  limit  absolute  power  have  foundered.  They 
proceeded  from  a  small  number  of  dignitaries 
in  high  places  and  a  select  number  of  enlight- 
ened people.  But  these  chosen  ones  were  not 
upheld  by  their  immediate  associates.  The 
greater  part  of  the  governing  class  have  ranged 
themselves  behind  the  Emperor,  and  have  sus- 
tained his  unlimited  power  through  fear  of  ;in 
oligarchical  government  vested  in  a  small  group 
of  nobles. 

These  are  the  circumstances,  which  I  have 
so  rapidly  outlined,  that  have  moulded  the 
autocratic  tendencies,  and  even  now  uphold 
232 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

them.  It  may  be  seen,  therefore,  that  such 
tendencies  are  the  consequence  of  historical 
circumstances,  and  that  they  have  nothing  of 
the  qualities  which  it  is  pretended  are  innate 
in  the  Russian  "race." 

Let  us  now  consider  the  value  of  Russia  as 
^wov  TToXiTLKov.  Wc  aFC  foFced  to  recognize, 
in  truth,  that  in  this  respect  her  value  is 
but  of  a  moderate  kind.  Apart  from  the 
Emperor  Peter  L,  Russia  has  produced  almost 
no  remarkable  political  personality.  The  great- 
er part  of  her  statesmen  have  been  conserva- 
tives. Very  few  among  them  have  been  in  the 
least  progressive,  or  have  had  broad  minds, 
together  with  that  wonderful  eagle-eyed  pene- 
tration which  sees  clearly  the  aspirations  and 
needs  of  the  times,  which  dares  even  boldly 
project  itself  into  the  future.  The  larger  num- 
ber of  Russian  statesmen  have  been  of  a  timid 
spirit,  filled  with  narrow  prejudices,  forever 
taken  up  with  an  archaic  ideal  which  history 
in  its  majestic  onward  march  has  already 
233 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

thrown  aside  among  the  ruins  and  disregarded 
possessions  of  the  past.  And,  further,  imitating 
in  this  the  dull  and  monotonous  plains  of  their 
country,  Russian  statesmen  have  been  of  little 
distinction,  and  have  shown  no  personality  to 
speak  of.  And  if  they  have  sometimes  come 
out  from  their  framework  of  mediocrity,  it  has 
been,  for  the  most  part,  alas,  through  an  exag- 
geration of  their  tyranny  and  extravagance. 

From  another  point  of  view,  however,  it  is 
not  to  be  denied  that  the  Russians  possess 
some  very  valuable  political  qualities.  One  of 
these  is  a  strong  spirit  of  subordination,  which 
causes  them,  the  greater  part  of  the  time,  to 
put  the  interests  of  the  State  above  their  own. 
There  is  barely  an  example  in  Russian  history 
where  the  governor  of  a  province  has  r(>belled 
against  the  central  authority  of  \\\c  State,  and 
has  endeavored  lo  cut  out,  to  form  for  himself 
from  the  general  mass  a  personal  domain. 
Russia  has  never  offen-d  th(^  sad  example  of  the 
egotistic  and  anarchical  opinions  which  so 
234 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

frequently  occur  in  the  history  of  Poland.  The 
spirit  of  strict  discipline  with  which  the  govern- 
ing classes  in  Russia  are  imbued  has  undoubtedly 
contributed,  in  great  measure,  to  establish  their 
dominion  over  so  vast  an  extent  of  territory. 

But  to  be  conquerors  is  not  everything,  those 
that  have  been  conquered  must  be  governed. 
Now,  the  Russians  have  been  much  less  skilful 
in  the  latter  than  in  the  former  task,  in  conse- 
quence of  some  of  their  good  qualities  it  may 
be,  but,  above  all,  because  of  one  of  their  great- 
est defects.  Russia  has  but  a  faint  conception 
of  law  and  justice.  In  this  she  is  the  exact 
opposite  of  the  Roman  people.  It  is  this  main 
defect  which  renders  Russian  domination  so 
odious  and  insupportable  to  the  people  who 
must  submit  to  it.  A  thousand  circumstances 
concur  to  produce  this  unfortunate  result,  I 
have  already  said  that  the  Russian  is  usually 
open-hearted  and  very  generous.  Rapacity, 
sordid  avarice,  dull  and  vindictive  cruelty,  enter 
but  slightly  into  his  character.  He  is  hospit- 
235 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

able,  not  supercilious,  much  given  to  sympathy, 
and  very  courteous  in  his  social  relations. 
Because  of  all  this,  he  coalesces  easily  with 
the  foreign  populations  coming  under  his  rule. 
It  is  because  of  these  qualities,  for  example, 
that  the  Russians  have  better  understood  how 
to  keep  their  supremacy  over  their  Mussulman 
subjects  in  Turkestan  than  the  English  over 
theirs  of  India.  But  the  Russian  character  is 
very  uneven.  And,  further,  his  political  concep- 
tions are,  as  yet,  indefinite,  mystical,  impreg- 
nated with  paternalism.  If  under  certain  cir- 
cumstances a  conflict  of  interests  arises  between 
him  and  the  people  under  his  domination,  he 
breaks  out  in  sudden  passion,  and  indulges  in 
measures  of  extreme  brutality.  These  measures 
arc,  then,  all  the  more  surprising  to  the  popula- 
tion, because  they  are  so  accustomed  to  indul- 
gence and  good  nature.  Then,  when  the  mo- 
ment of  anger  has  passed,  tlie  Russian  unbends, 
comes  to  himself  again,  and  without  always 
repealing  his  unrighteous  acts,  he  allows  them 
236 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

quietly  to  fall  into  desuetude.  A  regime  of 
this  kind  is  of  all  orders  the  most  precarious  for 
those  governed,  and  consequently  most  intoler- 
able. The  populations  under  Russian  subjec- 
tion, being  never  able  to  foresee  from  what  quar- 
ter, in  the  minds  of  their  masters,  the  wind 
may  blow,  live  in  continual  anxiety  and  con- 
stant apprehension.  Beside  the  fact  that  this 
is  in  the  highest  degree  disagreeable  for  the 
governed,  it  is,  also,  in  the  highest  degree  con- 
trary to  the  true  interests  of  the  governors.  In 
fact,  with  no  feeling  of  security  for  the  morrow, 
no  one  dare  undertake  those  business  enterprises 
of  a  more  extended  character  which  are  the  basis 
of  the  material  prosperity  of  a  country. 

The  Russian  State  has  been  established  by 
violence,  by  strokes  of  individual  authority. 
Thence  proceeds  the  illusion  that  the  renewal 
of  these  brutal  attempts  is  the  Alpha  and 
Omega  of  political  wisdom.  Very  many  Rus- 
sians, even  among  the  most  cultured  classes, 
have  an  idea  that  it  would  be  impossible  to 
237 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

insure  general  prosperity  unless  governments 
were  to  take,  at  certain  times,  measures 
described  in  Russia  as  administrative,  that  is  to 
say,  measures  which  are  illegal.  This  idea,  which 
is  securely  anchored  in  the  Russian  mind,  shows 
how  refractory  it  still  is  as  to  any  perception 
of  true  justice,  and  to  what  extent  the  Russian 
is  still,  after  all  his  efforts  at  civilization,  a 
"political  animal,"  and  of  a  very  ordinary 
quality.  > 

VI.     Present  State. 

After  having  glanced  ra]^idly  over  the  more 
or  less  permanent  traits  of  the  Russian  nation, 
I  should  like,  before  finishing  this  hasty  sketch, 
to  add  a  few  words  upon  the  situation  of  the 
moment. 

First  of  all,  with  reference  to  economics, 
Russia  is  in  a  fair  way  to  accomjjlish  an  impor- 
tant transformation.  Sh(>  is  jKissing  from  the 
purely   agricultural    stage    into    (he    inihistrial. 

(')  Whiit  is  t.'ikinj^  jjliicc  in  Finland  perfectly 
austuiiis  my  <>j)iiiiun. 

238 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

England  is  the  country  in  which  this  phase 
has  attained  its  highest  development.  Out  of 
one  hundred  Englishmen  seventy-one  live  in 
cities  and  twenty-nine  in  the  country.  In 
Russia  the  proportion  is  more  than  the  reverse 
of  this:  fifteen  persons  live  in  cities  and  eighty- 
five  in  the  country  districts.  But  in  conse- 
quence of  the  strides  which  manufacturing  has 
made,  the  population  of  the  cities  continues  to 
increase.  A  working  class  is  beginning  to  be 
formed.  The  "  bourgeoisie  "  is  growing.  These 
movements  are  already  plainly  visible,  but  they 
are  being  brought  about  slowly.  In  conse- 
quence of  a  thousand  impediments  produced 
by  bureaucratic  centralization,  everything  in 
Russia  advances  at  a  snail's  pace.  Things  have 
been  set  going,  however,  and,  as  Russia  pos- 
sesses vast  mineral  wealth  (still  very  largely 
unexplored),  manufactures  cannot  fail,  sooner 
or  later,  to  rise  to  great  importance. 

Another  important  event  in  Russian  history 
is  the  establishment  of  a  network  of  railways, 
239 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

which  from  this  time  forward  are  destined  to 
extend  over  the  entire  country.  Doubtless  the 
Russian  network  is  still  modest,  indeed,  com- 
pared to  that  of  America,'  but  such  as  it  is,  it 
has  already  produced  a  fairly  immeasurable 
revolution.  Russia  was  formerly  an  amorphous 
country.  Some  of  her  regions  were  practically 
inaccessible,  because  of  their  immense  distance 
from  the  sea.  On  the  other  hand,  during  a 
certain  mmiber  of  weeks  in  the  Spring  and 
Autumn,  communication  ceased  almost  entirely. 
All  this  is  a  thing  of  the  past,  thanks  to  the 
railroads.  These  transport  men  and  goods  at 
one  and  the  same  time.  Through  this  means  a 
constant  and  continually  flowing  current  of 
ideas  is  established  between  the  different  parts 
of  Russia,  and  has  reunited  them  as  with  an 
organic  bond. 

In  spite  of  the  frightful  obstacles  which  over- 

(•)  There  were  in  Russia,  July  1,  1900,  fifty-four 
thousand  six  hundred  kilometres  of  railroads,  and  in 
the  United  States,  .January  1,  1899,  three  hundred 
thousand  six  hundred  and  thirty-six  kilomctrea. 

240 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

whelm  them,  the  press  and  pubHshing  trade  are 
making  great  progress  in  Russia.  Russian 
editions  do  not  yield  much  in  point  of  elegance 
to  those  of  Western  Europe.  Here  is  another 
sign  of  the  times;  very  expensive  publications 
have  begun  to  have  a  financial  value  in  Russia. 
A  Leipzig  house,  combined  with  another  in 
St.  Petersburg,  is  now  publishing  an  immense 
encyclopaedia,  after  the  model  of  the  "Ency- 
clopaedia Britannica."  More  than  a  million 
dollars  have  been  invested  in  this  enterprise, 
which,  however,  is  very  profitable.  Twenty  or 
thirty  years  ago,  no  such  thing  as  this  would 
have  .been  possible.  I  cannot  enlarge  upon 
these  matters  which  are  not  exactly  in  line  with 
my  subject.  I  mention  them  only  to  show  that 
economic  power  (which  is  the  foundation  of  the 
development  of  the  mind)  is  increasing  in 
Russia,  even  though  slowly. 

What  is  the  present  tendency  of  the  Russian 
mind?    In  order  to  answer  this  question  we 
must  go  back  a  few  years. 
241 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

The  shameful  defeats  suffered  in  the  Crhnea, 
in  1854  and  1855,  had  shown,  with  the  most 
absolute  clearness,  how  fatal  had  been  the 
ultra-conservative  policy  of  the  Emperor  Nich- 
olas I.  A  powerful  liberal  reaction  set  in  under 
Alexander  II,  A  series  of  beneficent  reforms 
was  the  result:  the  suppression  of  serfdom,  in 
1861;  the  reformation  of  the  courts  of  justice 
and  the  introduction  of  the  jury  system,  in 
1864;  provincial  self-government  for  the  prov- 
inces, in  1865,  and  the  suppression  of  preliminary 
censure  at  St.  Petersburg  and  Moscow  in  the 
same  year. 

These  reforms  created  a  new  spirit.  Toward 
1872,  the  Russian  youth  were  at  the  boiling 
point.  They  desired  to  enter  upon  a  sort  of 
crusade  to  free  the  peasants  from  their  ignorance. 
Youthful  apostles  went  abroad  over  the  country, 
preaching  among  the  workmen  in  the  towns 
theories  that  were  liberal  and  more  or  less 
subversive.  If  the  Russian  government  had 
been  endowed,  at  that  time,  with  even  a  par- 
242 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

tially  clear  sense  of  justice,  it  would  have 
understood  that  to  preach  what  seems  to  him 
the  truth  is  the  primordial  right  of  every  human 
creature.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  Russian 
government  had  possessed  the  most  elementary 
principles  of  sociology,  it  would  have  seen  at 
once  that  the  Nihilist  apostleship  had  no  sort 
of  chance  of  amounting  to  anything  serious. 
Indeed,  to  modify  the  political  ideas  of  seventy 
millions  of  illiterate  men  would  require  an 
enormous  amount  of  money  and  immense 
efforts,  protracted  for  generations.  What  could 
be  accomplished  by  some  thousands,  or  rather 
by  some  hundreds,  of  young  Nihilists,  spread 
about  through  the  country  districts  of  Russia? 
Their  propaganda  would  quickly  disappear  in 
the  vast  ocean  of  ignorance  around  them,  with- 
out leaving  further  trace  than  would  a  small 
brook  in  the  Atlantic.  The  government  had 
only  to  shut  its  eyes.  The  youthful  enthusiasts 
would  have  been  freed  from  their  social  illu- 
sions; and  in  a  very  little  while  they  would 
243 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

have  abandoned  their  premature  attempts. 
This  is  just  what  did  happen  in  many  cases. 
Many  young  preachers  became  very  quickly 
disgusted,  and  gave  up  their  apostleship  among 
the  peasants,  seeing  that  it  could  lead  to  nothing. 
Unhappily,  the  Russian  government  had  no 
sufficient  amount  of  liberalism,  nor  of  foresight. 
The  reactionists  who  surrounded  the  noble  and 
generous  Sovereign,  the  great-hearted  Alex- 
ander II.,  began  to  frighten  him,  and  advised 
measures  of  merciless  severity  against  the 
Nihilists.  The  young  persons  who  were  preach- 
ing in  the  country  districts  were  arrested,  put 
in  prison,  subjected  to  the  most  rigorous  treat- 
ment, and,  in  consequence  of  sentences  rendered 
behind  closed  doors  by  special  tribunals  that 
offered  no  guarantee  of  impartiality  and  equity, 
were  transported  to  Siberia.  In  the  face  of 
such  persecutions  as  these  the  Nihilists  resisted. 
They  transformed  themselves  into  a  secret 
society  and  opposed  to  the  severities  of  the 
government,  assassinations  and  outrages  even 
244 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 


more  daring.  Holding  the  Emperor  Alexander 
II.  responsible  for  the  policy  urged  upon  him 
by  his  advisers,  they  became  enraged  against 
him  personally,  and  made  repeated  attempts  to 
kill  him. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  Turkish  War  broke  out. 
The  Russian  army  suffered  great  privations. 
Nevertheless,  in  time,  they  triumphed,  and 
arrived  under  the  walls  of  Constantinople.  In 
February,  1878,  Russia  was  breathlessly  await- 
ing the  accomplishment  of  her  destiny  and  the 
crowning  of  her  historical  mission.  For  an 
immense  majority  of  the  Russians  the  war  of 
1877  had  all  the  effect  of  a  new  crusade.  A 
glorious  hope  had  taken  supreme  possession  of 
their  hearts.  Every  moment  the  capture  of 
Constantinople  was  looked  for  and  the  end  of 
the  Mussulman  power  on  our  continent.  It 
would  seem  as  if  the  inauspicious  work,  accom- 
plished in  1453  by  Mahomet  the  Conqueror, 
were  about  to  be  undone  by  the  hand  of  Holy 
Russia.  It  seemed  as  if  Europe  were  about  to 
245 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

enter  into  possession  of  that  eastern  basin  of 
the  Mediterranean  whicli  had  formerly  been  her 
most  splendid  domain. 

Alas,  how  cruelly  deceived  were  the  Russian 
people,  in  maintaining  these  glorious  expecta- 
tions! Constantinople  was  not  occupied,  the 
Mussulmans  were  not  driven  out  of  Europe,  and 
even  the  independence  of  Bulgaria  was  effected 
in  but  a  limited  and  narrow  way. 

Discontent  followed  these  misconcepti,ons. 
The  plots  of  the  Nihilists  were  renewed,  and 
aroused  further  exasperation  on  every  side. 
The  more  nervous  and  severe  the  government 
appeared,  the  more  did  the  terrorist  party 
redouble  its  audacity. 

Alexander  II.  was  a  monarch  who  was  too 
enlightened,  whose  heart  was  too  tender,  not  to 
feel  that  the  mere  civil  administration  is  not 
everything  in  the  life  of  a  great  nation.  Toward 
the  beginning  of  the  year  1881,  Russia  was  living 
in  a  state  of  extraordinary  tension.  Each  day 
a  change  in  the  regime  was  expected.  A  con- 
246 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

stitution  was  the  universal  theme;  and  it  was 
even  said  that  one  had  been  already  drawn  up, 
and  that  it  would  be  promulgated  before  long. 

Unhappily  the  plots  of  the  terrorists  did  not 
blow  over.  The  narrow-minded  and  stupid 
fanatics  who  led  the  movement  appeared  to 
be  utterly  blinded.  They  neither  saw  nor  heard 
anything  of  what  was  passing  around  them,  and 
pursued  their  vengeance  against  such  a  Sover- 
eign as  Alexander  II.  As  ill-fortune  would 
have  it,  the  odious  crime  of  the  13th  of  March, 
1881,  was  successful. 

This  great  crime  was  naturally  succeeded  by 
a  furious  political  reaction,  which  lasted  with- 
out interruption  throughout  the  reign  of  Alex- 
ander III.,  and  bore  the  acknowledged  seal  of 
a  narrow  Muscovite  nationalism  and  of  an  ortho- 
dox clericalism  even  more  narrow  still.  The 
institutions  of  Alexander  II.  were  nearly  all 
revised  in  the  direction  of  reaction.  Self- 
government  in  the  towns  and  provinces  was 
limited,  the  independence  of  the  jury  percepti- 
247 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

bly  restricted.  The  unfortunate  Israelites  were 
deprived  of  most  of  their  privileges;  they  were 
excluded  from  the  municipal  councils  of  the 
cities;  their  admittance  into  the  middle  and 
primary  schools,  and  to  the  committees,  was 
restricted.  They  were  driven  out  en  masse  from 
certain  parts  of  the  Empire,  in  which,  thanks 
to  the  toleration  which  reigned  under  Alexander 
II.,  they  had  been  able  to  establish  themselves. 
The  severities  of  the  censorship  were  redoubled. 
Many  of  the  most  influential  journals  were  sup- 
pressed. Military  law  was  established  in  the 
large  Russian  towns  which  gave  privileges  to 
the  provincial  governors  and  the  prefects  of 
customs  which  were  often  abused. 

While,  about  1873,  the  apostle  who  went 
about  the  country  carrying  good  news  to  the 
people  was  the  most  striking  character  in 
Russian  life,  under  Alexander  III.,  it  was  the 
"careerist"  who  became  the  characteristic  type. 
This  typo,  which,  in  France,  Alphonse  Daudet 
has  named  the  "Struggle  for  Life,"  was  repre- 
248 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

sented  by  the  young  official,  with  no  kind  of 
moral  aspiration,  with  no  sort  of  ideal,  seeking 
to  obtain,  by  every  imaginable  means,  the 
greatest  possible  number  of  material  advantages. 
Men  of  this  type  multiplied  as  rapidly  as  weeds. 
A  leaden  gloom  fell  upon  Russian  society. 
People  lived,  from  day  to  day,  in  a  sad,  monoto- 
nous fashion,  without  having  even  a  glimpse  of 
anything  better. 

Revolutionary  plots  grew  less  frequent,  little 
by  little,  and  finally  ceased  entirely,  at  least  as 
far  as  the  public  knowledge  extended.  In  any 
case,  there  were  no  more  astounding  political 
assassinations.  This  was  one  of  the  singularly 
happy  features  of  the  reign  of  Alexander  III. 
Let  us  hope  that  the  progressive  party  in 
Russia  has  already  perceived  how  odious  and 
foolish  and  disadvantageous  it  is  to  resort  to 
brute  force. 

Alexander  III.  being  now  dead,  the  hopes  of 
the  liberals  strongly  revived.  They  thought 
that  the  reactionary  party  would,  on  the  acces- 
249 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

sion  of  Nicholas  II.,  be  broken  up,  as  had  hap- 
pened after  the  death  of  Nicholas  I.  Nothing 
of  the  kind  occurred.  The  men  who  had  sur- 
rounded Alexander  III.  remained  in  power  dur- 
ing the  reign  of  his  son,  and  the  greater  part 
of  them  are  in  power  now.  The  course  of  poli- 
tical opinion  did  not  change.  Some  reaction- 
ary measures  were  still  taken.  Nationalism  in 
a  narrow  sense  continued  to  flourish.  None  of 
the  exceptional  measures  which  had  been 
enacted  against  the  unhappy  Israelites  were 
repealed.  Thus,  apparently,  everything  is  going 
on  since  the  death  of  Alexander  III.,  just  as 
it  did  during  his  life.  But,  however,  it  is  not 
quite  that!  We  arc  conscious,  in  spite  of 
everything,  that  the  force  of  the  reaction  is 
blunted.  It  is  not  as  yet  receding;  but  it  is, 
however,  no  longer  advancing. 

Russia    is    at    the    turning-point.     Russian 

thought   has    become    a   stagnant    pool.     The 

liberals  have  not  to  a  marked  degree  the  courage 

of  their  convictions,  nor  do  the  reactionari(?s 

250 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

dare  engage  in  any  too  great  violence.  We  live 
from  day  to  day,  and  no  one  knows  whither  one 
is  tending.  It  seems  even  as  if  people  were 
dehghted  not  to  go  anywhere.  Some  legislative 
measures  of  very  slight  importance  have  been 
enacted.  But  no  one  seems  to  have  the  cour- 
age to  attack  the  great  political  problems,  ripe 
for  so  many  years.  Life  formulates  its  imperi- 
ous demands,  but  the  government,  in  its  inabil- 
ity to  act,  seems  to  wish  to  stop  up  its  ears  and 
close  its  eyes.  Russia  continues  to  linger  along 
in  superannuated  and  nearly  vanished  institu- 
tions, hardly  worthy  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  continues  to  be  an  archaic  state.  The 
breath  of  no  powerful  and  generous  idea  seems 
to  animate  this  country.  Not  a  single  man, 
no  great  character,  no  conspicuous  personality, 
appears  to  captivate  the  crowd  and  to  vibrate 
in  the  hearts.  The  novel  is  reduced  to  a  super- 
ficial impressionism,  which  paints  daily  life 
exactly  as  it  is,  without  in  the  least  attempting 
to  interpret  it.  It  would  seem  as  if  the  novel- 
251 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

ists  are  chiefly  ambitious  to  reduce  themselves 
to  the  level  of  photographic  machines,  and  to 
carefully  avoid  all  traces  of  an  independent 
thought. 

At  this  present  moment,  Russian  society 
seems  to  be  without  aspiration,  and  with  no 
ideal  of  any  kind.  There  is  not  a  single  great 
question  about  which  intellectual  war  is  waged. 
The  most  sacred  principles  count  but  sceptics 
and  unbelievers.  It  would  seem  as  if  the 
chosen  few  of  Russian  society  (among  whom, 
in  other  times,  such  powerful  currents  of 
thought  have  been  produced)  had  lost  the  fac- 
ulty of  feeling  the  beating  of  their  own  heart. 
An  atmosphere,  dull  and  gray,  pervades  the 
whol(\     There  is  absolute  stagnation. 

For  how  long  will  this  state  of  things  last? 
Ten,  twenty,  thirty  years?  Who  will  be  the 
deliverer?  Who  will  come  to  tlrag  Russian 
society  from  its  dull  and  lifeless  state?  Alas, 
no  one  can  answer  this  question. 

One  event  alone  liius  been  as  a  ray  of  light  on 
252 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

this  dark  and  gloomy  sky, — the  circular  of  the 
24th  of  August,  1898,  and  the  conference  at 
The  Hague,  which  was  the  result  of  it.  Unhap- 
pily, neither  has  this  event  succeeded  in  rousing 
Russian  society  from  its  torpor.  Many  people 
in  Russia  expressed  themselves  on  the  subject 
of  The  Hague  conference  with  a  pessimism  both 
scornful  and  ironical.  Furthermore,  the  noble 
attempt  of  the  Emperor  Nicholas  II.  has  hardly 
passed  out  of  the  domain  of  theory.  Russia 
has  not  disarmed  a  single  regiment;  quite  the 
contrary.  This  year  the  number  of  recruits 
called  to  active  service  is  greater  than  last. 
And  Russia  has  also  experienced  a  recrudes- 
cence in  naval  affairs,  a  more  foolish  madness 
even  than  militarism.  The  construction  of 
ironclads  has  been  resumed  with  great  ardor. 
Russia  is  at  present  going  through  one  of  the 
dullest  and  most  spiritless  periods  of  her  his- 
tory. The  Russian  people  have,  I  am  sure,  too 
much  exuberance  of  vital  power  not  to  react 
eventually.  Some  day  the  nation  will  resume 
253 


THE  RUSSIAN  PEOPLE 

its  forward  march.  Of  that  there  can  be  no 
shadow  of  doubt.  But  just  now,  Russia  seems 
as  if  motionless,  hesitating  and  irresolute 
between  progress  and  reaction.* 

C)  Written  in  1901. 


254 


RUSSIAN    AUTOCRACY 

AN   INTERPRETATION 


RUSSIAN   AUTOCRACY. 

An  Interpretation 

vladimir  g.  simkovitch 

The  Russian  Autocratic  System  has  of 
late  faced  a  more  serious  trial  than  ever  be- 
fore. The  war  with  Japan,  while  diverting 
public  attention  for  the  moment,  cannot 
change  to  any  material  extent  the  course  of 
Russia's  inner  development.  Indeed,  it  is 
more  likely  to  hasten  the  crisis.  The  sys- 
tem is  breaking  down  and  the  day  when  it 
will  be  abandoned  ought  to  be  a  day  of 
praise  and  thanksgiving,  not  only  for  the 
people  but  for  the  Czar  too.  For  Russian 
Autocracy  has  brought  the  country  to  the 
verge  of  ruin  and  starvation,  and  has  ruled 
Czar  Nicholas  II.  himself  with  a  rod  of 
iron,  out  of  a  man  of  noble  motives  and 
high  ideals  making  a  pathetic  figurehead 
257 


RUSSIAN    AUTOCEACY 

suffering    under    the    weight    of   inherited 
system. 

Prince  Ukhtomski,  an  old  friend  of  Czar 
Nicholas  II.,  whose  patriotism  and  loyalty 
are  beyond  question,  has  summed  up  the 
situation  in  the  following  words: 

"Russia  is  chronically  starving.  Pauper- 
ism increases  in  extent  and  degree,  and 
there  are  neither  ways  nor  means  to  stop 
or  to  mitigate  the  evil.  Expenditure  is 
growing  on  all  sides  and  in  all  directions, 
without  bounds,  though  the  sources  of  pro- 
ductive labor  are  exhausted.  The  people  in 
the  country,  young  and  old,  labor  with  all 
their  force,  but  all  their  exertions  are  not 
enough  to  satisfy  the  requirements  of  the 
state  and  of  tliose  who  live  on  the  labor  of 
the  peasants.  *  *  *  There  is  but  one  way 
towards  a  Ijrighter  future  and  that  is  the 
delivery  of  the  people  from  the  yoke  of 
bureaucracy."  (St.  Petersburgskia  Vedo- 
mosti,  November  1.'],  1901.) 
258 


RUSSIAN    AUTOCRACY 

But  it  is  not  bureaucracy  as  such,  it  is 
the  specific  spirit  of  the  Eussian  bureauc- 
racy, it  is  the  point  of  view,  the  doctrinaire, 
sinister  Byzantinism,  the  system  of  Alex- 
ander III.,  of  Pobedonoseeff,  Katkoff, 
Leontyeff,  etc.,  that  has  gradually  led  to 
the  moral  and  material  degeneration  of  Rus- 
sia. Nicholas  II.,  a  man  of  an  entirely 
different  make-up,  could  not  free  himself 
from  the  established  system  and  from  the 
statesmen  it  had  produced.  And  yet  Alex- 
ander III.  and  Katkoff,  and  Leontyeff  and 
Pobedonosceff,  etc.,  were  all,  with  the  pos- 
sible exception  of  Katkoff,  perfectly  honest 
men,  who  sincerely  and  unselfishly  worked 
for  what  they  considered  the  salvation  of 
Russia.  Alexander  III.  witnessed  the  ter- 
rible death  of  his  father,  the  great  reformer, 
and  reaction  forced  him  back  on  the  severe 
absolutism  of  Nicholas  I.  Yet  under  Nich- 
olas I.  Russia  was  a  part  of  Europe.  Au- 
tocracy was  a  fact,  but  not  a  doctrine.  Only 
259 


RUSSIAN    AUTOCRACY 

under  Alexander  111.,  and  after  the  experi- 
ences at  the  Berlin  Congress  of  1878,  did 
absolutistie  Russia  feel  conscious  of  being 
fundamentally  different  from  Western  Eu- 
rope; feel  that  it  might  indeed  have  in 
common  with  some  western  states  the  divine 
right  of  kings,  and  yet  become  aware  of  the 
abyss  that  separated  Europe  from  Russia. 

The  Slavophiles  and  Panslavists  rejoiced 
over  the  spirit  in  which  Alexander  III.  de- 
termined to  govern  Russia,  but  without 
cause.  Only  a  distorted  selection  of  points 
acceptable  to  a  Czar  and  pernicious  to  a 
people  were  taken  over  from  the  Slavoi)hile 
code,  and  these  were  fused  with  a  system 
of  government,  in  its  spirit  and  origin,  more 
Tartar  than  Slavonic. 

What  is  this  System?  There  is  nobody 
who  represents  and  interi)rets  its  spirit 
more  correctly  or  fearlessly  than  Nikolay 
Koustautiuovich  Leontyeff.  Leontyel'f  liim- 
Belf  is  often  regarded  as  the  last  great 
2G() 


RUSSIAN   AUTOCRACY 

Slavophile  publicist,  though  this  is  a  mis- 
take. He  represents  precisely  the  peculiar 
fusion  of  degenerate  Slavophilism  with 
Russian  governmentalism  which  is  the 
spirit  and  principle  of  the  reign  of  Alex- 
ander III,, — present-day  Russia's  inheri- 
tance and  "System." 

Let  the  philosopher  of  the  System  speak 
for  himself.^  Let  him  begin  with  under- 
lying principles,  with  his  theory. 

The  basic  principle  is  "Byzantinism." 
Byzantinism  is  the  nervous  system  of  Rus- 
sia. It  stands  for  something  very  definite. 
Politically  it  is  Autocracy,  religiously  it  is 
Christianity  with  very  distinct  features, 
which  allow  no  confusion  with  western 
churches  and  with  the  teachings  of  heretics 
and  dissenters.  In  matters  of  morals  it 
does  not  share  the  western  exaggerated  no- 

(')  Leontyeflf  develops  his  philosophy  in  his  famous 
work,  Vostok,  Rossia  and  Slovyaiistvo  (i.e.,  ''The 
East,  Russia  and  the  Slavs  "),  2  vols. ,  Moscow,  1885. 

261 


RUSSIAN   AUTOCRACY 

tions  of  the  value  and  importance  of  haman 
personality.  The  Byzantine  ideal  is  a  gen- 
eral liojielessness  on  the  subject  of  every- 
thing earthly, — personal  happiness,  per- 
sonal purity,  and  personal  moral  perfection 
(Vol.  I.,  p.  81).  Russian  Autocracy,  Rus- 
sian Czarism,  developed  under  Byzantine 
influences.  Byzantine  ideas  were  the  only 
elements  common  to  such  widely  differing 
portions  of  the  Kussian  Empire  as  Little 
Russia,  Lithuania,  and  Great  Russia  (I. 
pp.  98,  99).  Byzantine  Christianity  teaches 
strict  subordination.  It  inculcates  the  doc- 
trine that  the  worldly,  the  political  hier- 
archy is  but  the  reflection  of  the  heavenly. 
There  is  no  ecjuality,  because  the  church 
teaches  that  even  angels  are  not  equal 
among  themselves  (II.  41). 

("liiislinnity  is  the  surest  and  most  prac- 
tical means  of  luliiig  the  masses  of  the  i)eo- 
l)le  with  an  ii'on  linjid.     Ihil  this  ])ower  only 
true  Christianity  has,   the  Christianity  of 
262 


RUSSIAN    AUTOCRACY 

the  ijeasants,  the  monks  and  the  nuns,  not 
Christianity  a  Veau  de  rose,  with  its  talk 
about  love  without  fear,  about  the  dignity 
of  men  and  the  good  of  mankind  (II.  48). 
Love  of  mankind  is  anthropolatry  and  un- 
christian. The  basis  of  true  faith  is  fear. 
Everybody  can  comprehend  fear,  fear  of 
punishment  here  or  hereafter,  and  who 
fears  is  humble,  and  who  is  humble  seeks 
authority  and  learns  to  love  the  authority 
above  him  (II.  268-269).  And  authority  is 
constructive,  is  organizing.  Organization, 
social  organization,  is  by  nature  nothing 
else  than  chronic  despotism,  which  is  ac- 
cepted by  all  in  the  organization ;  by  some 
through  love,  by  others  through  fear,  or 
through  the  hope  of  benefit  to  be  derived 
from  despotism.  True  constructive  prog- 
ress lies  therefore  in  limiting  freedom  and 
not  authority  (II.  288).  Freedom  and  lib- 
eralism are  what  disintegrate  countries. 
Slowly  but  surely  they  destroy  their  na- 
263 


RUSSIAN   AUTOCRACY 

tional  existence.  Liberalism  is  everj^wliere 
an  enemy  to  the  historical  principles  of  the 
people,  of  the  discipline  in  which  the  people 
have  developed.  Liberalism  is  everjn^vhere 
negative ;  it  is  the  negation  of  all  discipline. 
And  the  more  honest,  the  more  sincere,  the 
more  incorruptible  is  this  liberalism — the 
more  it  is  pernicious  (11.  37). 

Freedom  for  freedom's  sake,  the  rights 
of  habeas  corpus,  legality,  the  i)rinciples  of 
1789,  ^'le  bien-etre  materiel  et  moral  de 
Vhumanite"  *  *  *  "Oh,  these  miserable 
ideals.  These  miserable  men,"  exclaims 
Leontyeff.  "The  more  sincere,  the  more 
honest,  the  more  convinced  they  are,  the 
worse,  the  more  harmful  they  are  in  their 
naive  moderation,  in  their  imperceptible 
progress  and  fatal  insidiousness.  It  is  awk- 
ward to  punish  them,  to  persecute  them, 
to  execute  them.  *  *  *  Entrenched  behind 
legal  safeguards  they  are  more  dangerous 
til  an  arrant  knaves,  against  whom  every 
264 


RUSSIAN    AUTOCRACY 


country  wields  the  sword,  the  penitentiary, 
exile"  *  *  *  (Vol.  IL,  p.  40).  Liberal- 
ism is  a  new  idolatry  that  sacrifices  nations, 
with  their  historical,  national  peculiarities 
and  characteristics,  to  a  new  idol,  to  a  new 
and  strange  faith  in  the  dignity  and  the 
rights  of  the  common  European  bourgeois 
(II.  100).  The  liberal  is  half-nihilist,  but 
more  dangerous  than  the  nihilist,  because 
he  does  not  dare  to  fight  openly.  He 
breathes  safely  under  the  uniform  of  a  state 
official,  in  the  professor's  chair,  on  the 
judge's  bench  and  especially  in  the  clever 
and  cunning  articles  of  the  liberal  papers, 
which  know  at  the  proper  time  how  to  safe- 
guard themselves  with  patriotic  yells,  with 
monarchistic  exclamations,  so  that  the  hiss 
of  the  serpent  and  his  treacherous  coiling 
may  not  be  noticed  (II.  109). 

"  'Prepare,    0   honest    citizens,    prepare 
the  future !'  cry  these  liberals.    'Teach  your 
children    to    grumble    against    authorities, 
265 


RUSSIAN   AUTOCRACY 

teach  them  that  above  all  it  is  important  to 
be  an  'honest  man,'  and  that  a  man  may 
have  any  religion  he  pleases.  *  *  *  Teach 
them  to  call  piety  bigotry,  and  to  object  to 
religious  fanaticism,  teach  them  that  devo- 
tion to  the  Czar's  service  and  respect  to 
superiors  is  servility.  *  *  *  Teach  them 
not  to  care  "ew-  principe^^  for  offices  and 
decorations.  *  *  *  Prepare,  prepare  the 
future!  Send  immediately  anatomical  at- 
lases to  the  public  schools,  so  that  the  chil- 
dren of  the  peasant,  these  citizens  of  the 
beautiful  future,  may  learn  soon  that  there 
is  no  soul  in  a  man,  and  that  everything  is 
nerves  and  nerves  *  *  *  (and  if  there  is 
nothing  but  nerves — why  should  they  go  to 
confession,  or  obey  the  policeman?)  *  *  * 
Take  special  care  that  common  people 
should  not  think  that  the  earth  stands  on 
three  whales  v  *  *  *  Oh,  refined,  slow  poi- 
son is  more  terrible  than  fire  and  sword" 
(11.  pp.  44-45). 

266 


RUSSIAN   AUTOCRACY 

All  such  doctrines,  such  innovations  have 
to  be  nipi)ed  in  the  bud,  otherwise  they  are 
victorious,  declares  Leontyeff.  Their  posi- 
tive side  for  the  most  part  remains  a  castle 
in  the  air;  their  destructive  activity  un- 
fortunately too  often  achieves  its  negative 
end. 

For  the  perfect  destruction  of  what  is  left 
of  the  former  social  organization  of  Europe 
there  is  no  need  for  barbarians,  for  a  for- 
eign invasion.  The  further  spread  of  the 
religion  of  Eudaimonism,  with  its  device, 
"Le  hien-etre  materiel  et  moral  de  Vhu- 
manite,"  will  accomplish  it!  (I.  183). 

Thus  the  general  profession  of  faith  of 
the  Russian  interpreter  of  Autocracy  is 
clear,  and  it  might  as  well  be  pointed  out 
that  all  his  opinions  were  those  also  of  Kat- 
kotf,  Pobedonosceff,  as  well  as  of  the  late 
Emperor  Alexander  III.  Let  us  now  pene- 
trate a  little  further  into  this  doctrine  that 
has  for  over  two  decades  ruled  Russia. 
267 


RUSSIAN    AUTOCRACY 

The  Russian  Czar  by  his  authority  and 
according  to  the  fundamental  laws  of  the 
Empire  has  the  right  to  do  everything  ex- 
cept to  limit  his  authority.  The  Autocrat 
cannot  cease  to  be  an  autocrat  (II.  164). 
Anything  that  the  Czar  does  is  good  and 
legal.  His  doings  cannot  be  judged  by  the 
merits  of  the  case;  the  pleasure  of  the  Su- 
preme Authority,  the  Czar,  is  the  supreme 
criterion.  He  who  does  not  see  this  and  can- 
not understand  it,  may  be  in  the  circum- 
stances of  his  private  affairs  an  honest  man ; 
but  he  is  not  a  true  Russian  (II.  51).  The 
Manifesto  of  Emperor  Alexander  III.  of 
A])ril  29,  1881,  was  a  true  Russian  Mani- 
festo. In  the  face  of  the  whole  of  constitu- 
tional Euroi)e  and  the  whole  of  republican 
America  it  declared  that  Russia  did  not  in- 
tend to  live  any  longer  with  somebody's  else 
brains,  and  tliat  from  now  on  Autocracy 
would  rule  in  Russia  su])remely  and  fear- 
fully ("grozno") ;  even  a  dream  of  a  con- 
268 


RUSSIAN   AUTOCRACY 

stitution  would  not  be  tolerated  (I.  283). 
The  duty  of  the  conservative  elements  is 
not  to  be  ashamed  of  calling  themselves  re- 
actionaries (11.  79),  because  a  reaction  is 
necessary  in  Russia.  There  has  been  too 
much  freedom.  A  violent  rule  is  what  the 
country  needs.  Violence,  when  there  is  a 
doctrine  behind  it,  convinces  many  and  con- 
quers all  (II.  80).  A  violent  rule  is  what 
the  true  Russian  ought  to  love  and  the  Rus- 
sian peasant  does  so;  he  likes  officials  that 
are  brilliant,  bold,  hard,  even  harsh.  Bish- 
ops, generals,  military  commanders  not  only 
are  esteemed  by  the  peasant,  but  please  and 
appeal  to  his  Byzantine  feelings.  *  *  *  He 
loves  decorations  and  looks  at  them  with  an 
almost  mystical  respect.  *  *  *  But  the 
present  nobility!  Even  a  Gambetta  and  a 
Bright  would  appeal  to  them  more  than  a 
Muravieff  or  Paskevitch  (II.  130).  The 
higher  classes  are  already  infected.  Russia 
is  surrounded  with  this  liberal  pest.  And 
269 


RUSSIAN    AUTOCRACY 

immediate  action  must  be  taken  against 
equality  and  liberalism.  *  *  *  Russia  must 
be  kept  frozen  that  it  may  not  grow  putrid 
(II.  86).  Russia's  illiteracy  is  therefore 
Russia's  good  fortune  (II.  9).  Since  the 
Crimean  War  everything  has  tended  to  Eu- 
ropeanize  Russia,  and  if  she  has  been  saved 
from  this  fate  it  is  due  to  the  common  peo- 
ple and  to  a  large  extent  to  their  illiteracy. 
But  let  a  man  dare  straightforwardly  and 
sincerely  to  doubt  the  value  of  public 
schools !  Let  a  man  say  that  it  is  still  very 
questionable  if  it  is  necessary  or  truly  use- 
ful to  teach  the  people,  the  liberals  would 
laugh  at  him.  But  is  it  really  advisable  to 
propagate  among  the  people  European  no- 
tions, tastes,  ideals,  prejudices,  and  terrible 
mistakes?  (II.  133). 

Almost  as  pernicious  as  the  schools  arc 

the  new  courts  of  justice  as  established  by 

Alexander   II.,    say   tlio    autocrats.      They 

liave  undermined  all  authority.    They  have 

270 


RUSSIAN   AUTOCRACY 

publicly  attacked  and  convicted  statesmen, 
abbots,  barons,  generals,  mayors  of  cities, 
and  men  and  women  of  quality.  *  *  *  And 
the  public  was  glad.  The  introduction  of 
the  new  courts  and  the  jury  system  was  an 
extremely  radical  step,  and  to  maintain  an 
equilibrium  the  judges  ought  to  interj^ret 
the  new  institutions  properly,  and  favor  the 
older  elements,  the  generals,  the  abbots,  the 
noblemen,  the  fathers  and  mothers,  as 
against  the  younger  and  weaker  elements. 
The  weaker  element  may  soon  become  too 
strong !  We  must  not  disaccustom  the  peo- 
ple and  the  youth  to  obedience ;  it  is  against 
the  spirit  of  Greek  Orthodoxy,  in  which  the 
Monarchy  has  grown  up.  Without  talking 
much  about  it  publicly  therefore,  the  pres- 
ent courts  must  be  modified  (II.  136-142). 
— It  may  be  remarked  here,  by  way  of  foot- 
note, that  this  has  indeed  taken  place. 

The  great  cardinal  problem  for  Russian 
interior  administration,  as  well  as  for  Rus- 
271 


RUSSIAN   AUTOCRACY 

sian  foreign  policy,  is  how  to  weaken  de- 
mocracy. "How  to  weaken,  how  to  strangle 
democracy,  Europeanism,  liberalism  in  all 
countries — that  is  the  question!"  (I.  301). 
WHiosoever  wishes  Russia  well  must  de- 
sire the  ruin  of  western  civilization  and 
of  the  foremost  nations  representing  this 
civilization.  This  western  civilization  is 
already  going  to  pieces,  but  it  has  not  yet 
lost  its  charm  for  the  majority  of  the  cult- 
ured people  of  Russia,  who  are  still  naive 
enough  to  believe  in  "democracy  and  the 
welfare  of  humanity"  (I.  305).  On  the 
suppression  of  liberalism  depends  the  out- 
come of  the  solution  of  the  Eastern  ques- 
tion— this  is  another  opinion  of  Leontyeff, 
who  was  a  great  authority  on  Eastern  af- 
fairs, having  spent  over  ten  years  in  Turkey 
in  the  Russian  diplomatic  service. 

Panslavism  is  a  necessity,  continues  the 
expounder  of  Autocracy,  but  if  (J  reek-Ortho- 
dox Panslavism   is  salvation,   liberal  Pan- 
272 


RUSSIAN   AUTOCRACY 

slavism  means  ruin,  and  ruin  first  of  all  for 
Russia!  (I.  267) ;  because  all  the  Slavs  out- 
side of  Russia  are  Europeans  and  liberals. 
If  Greek  Orthodoxy  is  still  strong  in  the 
East  it  is  due  to  the  Turks.  Turkish  op- 
pression was  all  that  preserved  the  Balkan 
Slavs  from  the  destructive  influences  of 
European  liberalism. 

Russia's  true  national  policy  cannot  be 
based  on  purely  racial  considerations.  It  is 
the  spiritual  idea  that  is  Russia's  strength, 
and  this  idea  is  Greek  Orthodoxy  and  Au- 
tocracy. One  may  talk  anything  "for  Eu- 
rope," but  one  must  think  logically  and 
clearly  for  one's  self.  The  existence  of  Tur- 
key is  beneficial  to  Russia  so  long  as  she  is 
not  ready  to  take  its  place  on  the  Bosphorus. 
A  Pasha  is  better  than  a  Greek  democratic 
Nomarch  (prefect) ;  the  Pasha  is  more 
autocratic,  more  statesmanlike  (II.  255). 
Racial  sympathies  with  the  Slavs  should 
not  mislead  any  Russian.  As  a  matter  of 
273 


RUSSIAN   AUTOCRACY 

fact  it  may  as  well  be  pointed  out  that 
among  all  the  Slavonic  nations,  says  Leout- 
yeff,  Russia  is  the  least  Slavonic.  Russia 
is  different  in  her  history  and  her  composi- 
tion, different  psychologically  and  intellect- 
ually, from  all  other  Slavs.  "Russia  is  the 
most  easterly,  the  most,  so  to  say,  Asiatic 
Turanian  nation  in  the  Slavonic  world,  and 
she  can  develop  quite  independently  of  Eu- 
rope. Without  this  Asiatic  influence  of 
Russia  the  other  Slavs  would  soon  become 
most  miserable  continental  Europeans  and 
nothing  else,  and  for  such  a  miserable  end 
it  is  not  worth  their  while  to  'shake  off  their 
yoke'  or  for  us  to  undertake  self-sacrificing 
crusades"  (I.  285).  In  the  Russian  make- 
up are  strong  and  important  characteristics 
that  resemble  the  Turks,  the  Tartars,  the 
Asiatics  rather  than  the  southern  and  west- 
ern Slavs.  Russians  are  lazier,  more  fa- 
talistic, more  obedient  to  authority,  more 
good-natured,  more  recklessly  brave,  more 
274 


RUSSIAN   AUTOCRACY 

inconsistent,  and  infinitely  more  inclined  to 
religious  mysticism  than  Servians,  Bulga- 
rians, Czechs,  or  Croatians  (I.  284). 

The  tendencies  of  the  Southern  Slavs  are 
evil;  worse  even  than  those  of  the  French. 
The  French  nation  has  at  least  checking 
traditions.  It  still  has  royalists,  ultramon- 
tanes,  aristocrats,  feudal  traditions,  that 
keep  it  from  a  democratic  disintegration. 
The  Slavs,  on  the  other  hand,  are  through- 
out liberals,  constitutionalists,  democrats. 
They  have  no  ground  under  their  feet  that 
develops  men  of  thought  and  authoritative 
conservatism  (I.  307).  But  is  it  not  Rus- 
sia's great  destiny  to  unite  all  the  Slavs? 
This  destiny  is  a  dangerous  burden,  it  is  a 
sad  necessity ;  it  may  mean  the  downfall  of 
autocratic  Russia  exchanged  for  God  knows 
what.  The  Slavs  are  fundamentally  differ- 
ent from  old  Russia  of  the  Gremlin  of  Mos- 
cow. Take  Bulgaria,  for  instance.  Its 
cultured  classes  are  of  the  most  common 
275 


RUSSIAN   AUTOCRACY 

European  liberal  stamp.  And  what  harm 
these  cultured  Bulgarians  have  already  done 
to  Russia  and  their  own  people!  No,  Bul- 
garia is  not  misguided:  it  is  calculat- 
ing and  bold,  it  is  a  fatal  and  dangerous 
nation ! 

Why  then  unite  ourselves  with  these  na- 
tions that  are  to  such  an  extent  liberal  and 
constitutional  ?  Why  bother  Turkey,  which 
by  its  very  existence  is  so  useful  to  us  in 
checking  this  great  European  pestilence  of 
democratic  progress!  (II.  G7).  And  this 
last  Turkish  war  *  *  *  the  Russian  army 
crossing  the  Danube,  the  Russian  army 
passing  the  Balkans.  *  *  *  The  victorious 
army  standing  before  Constantinople.  *  *  * 
And  yet  it  did  not  enter  it,  it  did  not  occupy 
it!  It  looks  like  an  evident  weakness,  like 
a  ])! under.  *  *  *  But  it  was,  as  God  views 
it,  right.  "In  that  year  we  were  still  un- 
worthy to  enter  there,  we  should  have 
si)oiied  everything.  *  *  *  We  were  then 
276 


RUSSIAN    AUTOCRACY 

still  too  liberair  '  (II.  261).  The  final  re- 
pulsion of  the  Turks  is  necessary,  but  in 
taking  their  place  we  ought  not  to  have  in 
view  the  "liberty"  of  the  Christians,  but 
their  organization.  And  we  must,  therefore, 
by  all  means  clear  our  own  as  well  as  their 
minds  from  all  sorts  of  constitutional  and 
liberal  likings,  customs,  and  tastes.  Other- 
wise we  shall  ruin  our  own  future  as  well 
as  the  future  of  the  East.  And  when  the 
time  comes  to  expel  the  Sultan,  we  shall  not 
expel  him  because  he  is  an  autocratic  Asi- 
atic monarch — well  for  us  that  he  is — but 
because  he  has  become  too  weak  and  cannot 
longer  resist  the  influences  of  liberal  Eu- 
rope. But  Russia  can  resist  them  if  it 
wants  to !  Russia  has  proved  that  it  can. 
It  proved  it  by  the  Manifesto  of  the  Em- 
peror Alexander  III.  of  the  29th  of  April, 
1881    (I.   282-283).     And  for  the   present 

(')  The  Turkish  war  was  in  the  liberal   reign  of 
Alexander  II. 

277 


EUSSIAN    AUTOCRACY 

Russia  must  keep  in  mind  the  old  princi- 
ple— divide  et  impera!  It  is  essential  for 
Russia  that  on  the  Balkan  peninsula  there 
shall  be  as  little  as  possible  of  state  unity, 
of  political  harmony,  and  as  much  as  pos- 
sible of  church  unity,  of  Greek-orthodox 
unity.  Russia's  friends  are  the  Greek  Pa- 
triarchs, the  Greek  monks,  the  Montenegro 
warriors;  her  enemies,  the  enemies  of  the 
church,  the  enemies  of  Russian  Autocracy, 
are  the  parliaments  of  Greece  and  of  the 
Balkan  States  (I.  226-230). 

The  South-Slavonic  bourgeoisie  stands  in 
the  way  of  a  Russo-Byzantian  autocratic 
Empire.  Russia  has  to  reckon  with  this  class 
and  must  change  or  neutralize  it.  Russia 
must  find  some  powerful  antidote  for  this 
miserable  European  liberalism.  And  for 
the  time  being  the  only  and  the  best  avail- 
able antidote  is  the  nursing  and  strengthen- 
ing of  the  Greek-orthodox  Church  in  the 
Balkan  States  (I.  230). 
278 


RUSSIAN   AUTOCRACY 


As  things  are  now,  western  diplomacy  is 
already  trying  to  diminish  Russian  influ- 
ence in  Greece  and  Bulgaria,  and  from  past 
experience  one  can  foresee  what  would  hap- 
pen if  Constantinople  should  become  some- 
thing like  an  absurd  neutral  city.  All  the 
motley,  self-seeking,  and  irritable  population 
of  Christian  Turkey  would  be  left  to  its 
passions  without  the  Russian  friendly  but 
fatherly  severe  "veto!"  To  see  Constanti- 
nople a  free  European  town  is  to  see  it  di- 
rectly and  indirectly  closed  and  inaccessible 
for  Russia  (L  255). 

The  other  danger  is  still  greater.  Russia 
may  become  contaminated,  may  catch  the 
disease  from  the  Southern  Slav  whom  she 
is  warming  at  her  bosom.  The  Russian, 
like  the  Frenchman,  may  learn  to  love  any 
kind  of  Russia,  as  the  Frenchman  has 
learned  to  serve  any  sort  of  France.  But 
who  could  care  for  a  Russia  that  is  not 
autocratic  and  not  Greek-orthodox!  (II. 
279 


RUSSIAN   AUTOCRACY 

149).  And  because  Katkoff  for  decades  has 
preached  this  doctrine  he  deserves  a  monu- 
ment during  his  lifetime. 

But  the  great  truth  is  that  Russia  has 
already  caught  the  disease.  In  the  bottom 
of  their  hearts  the  Russians  are  alreadj^  lib- 
eral. They  do  not  realize  that  it  is  simply 
a  sin  to  love  Europe  (II.  30G).  Yes,  dur- 
ing recent  years  the  Russian  people  has 
shown  that  its  character  is  becoming  very 
doubtful,  if  not  really  bad.  It  seems  that 
sooner  or  later  the  common  people  will  fol- 
low the  intelligent  leaders.  And  these  in- 
telligent ones  are  throughout  liberal,  i.  c, 
empty,  negative,  and  unprincipled  (II.  182). 

What  then  can  save  a  country  in  such  a 
pass?  The  answer  is  ineqiialitT/.  The  more 
equal  the  rights,  the  more  similar  are  the 
subjects  of  the  empire,  and  the  more  similar 
are  their  demands.  Divide  ct  impcra!  is 
therefore  not  a  ])iece  of  Jesuitism,  but  a  law 
of  nature,  a  fundanicnlni  piinciple  of  good 
280 


RUSSIAN   AUTOCRACY 

government.  So  long  as  there  are  different 
castes,  different  provinces,  with  different 
peoples,  so  long  as  the  education  is  differ- 
ent in  different  classes  of  society,  so  long 
will  there  be  still  a  good  chance  to  fight 
democratic  progress  (I.  165).  But  if  the 
equalizing  tendencies  of  liberalism  and  the 
democratic  spirit  gain  the  upper  hand  then 
there  is  only  one  salvation  left — and  that  is 
the  conquest  of  new  and  original  countries, 
the  conquest  and  occupation  of  new  terri- 
tories with  a  foreign  and  dissimilar  popu- 
lation, the  annexation  of  countries  that 
carry  in  themselves  conditions  favorable  for 
autocratic  discipline,  an  annexation  that 
does  not  hurry  with  any  deep  or  inner 
assimilation  (I.  171-179).  Divide  et  im- 
peral 


281 


RUSSIAN   AUTOCRACY 


n. 


We  have  presented  the  interpretation  of 
the  Russian  system  of  government  as  firmly 
adhered  to  by  Alexander  III.,  and  illus- 
trated by  all  his  administrative  activity. 
The  closing  lines  of  the  last  chapter  of 
Leontyeff's  book  throw,  perhaps,  some  light 
on  the  occupation  of  Manchuria  and  on  the 
causes  of  the  present  war.  But  the  Russian 
people  is  clamoring  not  for  Manchuria,  but 
for  its  daily  bread,  and  such  safeguards  of 
personal  liberty  as  the  Anglo-Saxons  have 
secured  in  their  Magna  Charta. 

When  Nicholas  11.  succeeded  his  father, 
a  sigh  of  relief  went  through  Russia.  Tt 
was  ex])ected  that  he  would  revert  to  the 
policy  of  his  grandfather,  that  he  would 
grant  some  sort  of  conservative  constitu- 
tion, such  as  Alexander  II.  was  about  to 
282 


RUSSIAN    AUTOCRACY 

sign  when  he  was  murdered.  All  these 
hopes  failed.  Nicholas  II.  was  too  weak  a 
man  to  take  a  step  of  any  importance  what- 
soever. The  numerous  petitions  of  provin- 
cial assemblies  of  the  nobility  praying  for 
guarantees  of  life,  liberty,  and  property, 
were  answered  by  arrests  and  exiles.  The 
Czar  solemnly  declared  on  January  17, 
1895,  that  he  would  rule  in  the  spirit  of  his 
father,  and  no  change  in  the  system,  no 
"foolish  dreams"  would  be  tolerated. 

He  has  kejitt  his  word.  But  he  did  not 
rule,  he  does  not  rule,  and  Russia  is  drift- 
ing towards  rack  and  ruin,  still  in  the  grip 
of  'the  same  all-powerful  System,  with  a 
thoroughly  good  but  helpless  Czar  as  its 
first  slave,  and  perhaps  its  last  victim.  Not 
restrained  by  a  responsible  man,  in  the 
hands  of  a  motley  body  of  advisers,  who 
have  none  of  the  honesty  and  integrity  and 
unselfishness  of  fanatics  like  Alexander  III. 
or  Pobedonosceff,  the  autocratic  System  of 
283 


RUSSIAN   AUTOCRACY 

Alexander  III.  has  become  more  unscrupu- 
lous than  ever.  Bezobrazoff  and  xVlexeyeff 
plunged  the  countr}^  into  a  terrible  and  un- 
necessary war,  and  the  ministry  of  von 
Plehve  managed  Russia  by  attending  chiefly 
to  the  extermination  of  the  "inner  foe" — 
that  is,  the  enlightenment  of  the  people. 

The  crimes  of  government  are  interpreted 
by  foreigners  as  the  barbarism  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  the  fair  name  of  Russia  is  dis- 
graced throughout  the  world.  The  opinion 
of  the  average  American  is  that  the  Russian 
l)eople  is  barbarous  and  its  government  en- 
lightened, lie  forgets  that  it  is  not  the 
government,  but  the  i)Cople,  that  has  pro- 
duced the  great  Russian  artists,  the  great 
Russian  novelists,  the  great  Russian  schol- 
ars rniiious  throughout  the  world.  The 
Russian  people  lins  ))roduced  them  too,  not 
with  the  liel]),  but  in  sj)ite  of,  the  autocratic 
government.  Were  not  the  two  greatest 
Russian  i)oets,  Pushkin  and  Lermontoff, 
284 


RUSSIAN   AUTOCRACY 

harassed  and  persecuted  by  the  govern- 
ments? Did  not  Turgeneff  live  in  exile  in 
Europe?  Was  not  Dostoyevski  sentenced 
to  death,  his  punishment  being  commuted 
on  the  scaffold  to  forced  labor  in  Siberia? 
Was  not  Tolstoi  anathematized,  and  is  it 
not  an  open  secret  that  he  would  long  ago 
have  been  sent  to  Siberia  were  it  not  for  the 
bad  impression  such  an  action  might  have 
produced  on  Europe? 

Was  it  the  Russian  people  that  drowned 
6,000  innocent  Chinese  men,  women,  and 
children  in  the  Amoor ;  or  was  it  the  troops 
obeying  with  horror  orders  received?  But 
what  is  Russia's  good  name  to  its  govern- 
ment? As  Prince  Gregory  Volkonski  cor- 
rectly says,  the  one  thought  and  care  of  the 
Russian  government  is  that  the  power  shall 
not  slip  out  from  its  hands.^  This  slipping 
out  process,  however,  has  already  begun. 

(')  Prince  Gregory  Volkonsky.     The  Present  Condi- 
tion of  Russia  (in  Russia),  Stuttgart,  1903,  p.  23. 

285 


RUSSIAN   AUTOCRACY 

Tlie  Autocratic  System  still  exists  in  its 
irresponsibility,  yet  it  is  not  any  longer  in 
the  hands  of  the  autocrat.  The  imperial 
mantle  is  already  being  pulled  to  shreds  and 
pieces,  and  there  is  a  constant  scramble  be- 
tween grand  dukes  and  common  climbers 
and  intriguers  for  the  most  of  it.  Did  the 
autocrat  of  all  the  Kussias  want  this  war? 
Did  he  not  state  to  the  Japanese  Minister  in 
all  sincerity  that  there  would  be  no  war? 
Did  he  not  order  Alexeyeff  to  transmit  on 
New  Year's  Day  to  the  Far  Eastern  troops 
his  imperial  greetings  and  his  assurance 
that  peace  would  be  jireserved  in  the  Far 
East?  Nobody  doubted  the  good  faith  of 
the  Czar,  but  everybody  in  Japan  and  else- 
where was  convinced  of  the  bad  faith  of 
the  Imperial  Russian  Government,  of  its 
Machiavellian,  sixteenth-century  methods  of 
dii)loma('y.  And  the  woild  is  tired  of  it. 
Honest,  straightforward  methods  in  inter- 
national dealings  may  weigh  on  some  gov- 
286 


RUSSIAN    AUTOCRACY 


ernments  as  a  nightmare,  but  they  must  con- 
form to  them  nevertheless. 

And  now  to  the  last — we  hope  the  last — 
great  crime  of  the  Autocratic  System.  For 
what  is  Russian  blood  now  sacrificed  and 
billions  of  rubles  wrung  from  the  starving 
Russian  people,  wasted  on  the  fields  of 
Manchuria?  Does  the  Russian  people  need 
Manchuria?  Not  in  the  least.  Even  such 
expansionists  and  nationalistic  papers  as 
Suvorin's  "Novoe  Vremya"  and  Prince 
Ukhtomski's  "St.  Petersburgskia  Vedmosti" 
were  bitterly  opposed  to  it.  But  who  cares 
for  national  interests,  when  personal  are  at 
stake!  In  Corea  a  company  formed  by  a 
couple  or  more  of  grand  dukes  and  some 
higher  bureaucrats  has  obtained  valuable 
lumber  and  mining  concessions — a  sufficient 
cause  for  declaring  northern  Corea  under 
the  Russian  sphere  of  influence.^  As  to  the 
Manchurian  adventure,  everybody  in  Rus- 

(')  Osvoboshdenie,  No.  31,  p.  118. 

287 


RUSSIAN    AUTOCRACY 

sia  knew  perfectly  well  and  talked  freely 
about  this  new  promised  land  for  official 
thieves.  It  is  estimated  that  about  three- 
quarters  of  the  hundreds  of  millions  appro- 
priated for  the  railroads,  the  new  commer- 
cial cities,  the  ports,  etc.,  were  stolen,  and 
the  money  went  high  enough  up  to  interest 
a  powerful  element  of  the  autocratic  admin- 
istration in  perpetuating  this  new  Eldorado. 
Already,  in  the  beginning  of  1902,  Pro- 
fessor Migulin  of  the  University  of  Khar- 
koff,'  a  very  conservative  man  and  an  ex- 
pert in  railroad  finance,  called  attention  to 
what  was  going  on  in  Manchuria.  The 
railroad  afforded  no  technical  difficulties 
whatsoever,  the  Chinese  coolie  labor  used 
in  its  construction  was  the  cheapest  in  the 
world,  the  matei'ial  was  imi)orted  duty-free. 
And  yet  the  laying  of  rails  alone,  not  count- 
ing etjuipment,  cost  of  stations,  ]>lntforms, 

(')  P.  P.  Migulin.      Our  LdUst.  liailrixKt  J'ulity  and 
liuilruad  Loans  (m)l-VM)2),  Kimrkofr,  J0U2. 

288 


RUSSIAN    AUTOCRACY 

etc.,  cost  the  government  more  than  152,000 
rubles  pro  verst,  that  is,  about  230,000  ru- 
bles a  mile !  ^  Professor  Migulin  then  also 
pointed  out  that  Manchuria,  on  account  of 
its  extremely  cheap  coolie  labor,  is  a  place 
entirely  unfit  for  Russian  colonization,  and 
likely  to  kill  agriculture  and  colonization  in 
the  Russian  Amoor  region,  since  Russians 
cannot  compete  with  Chinese  wages  and  the 
low  price  of  agricultural  products. 

Prince  Ukhtomski,  the  president  of  the 
Russo-Chinese  Bank,  and  formerly  an  in- 
timate friend  of  Nicholas  II.,  in  an  inter- 

(')  The  Manchurian  railway  cost  the  Russian  people 
$115,0.00  per  mile,  while  the  average  cost  of  an  Amer- 
ican railway  in  the  Western  plains  is  $13,000  to 
$15,000  a  mile.  The  inspecting  engineer  for  the  U.  S. 
Government  estimated,  in  1887,  the  cost  of  reproduc- 
tion of  the  Central  Branch  of  the  Union  Pacitic  R.  R. 
at  $20,040  a  mile  ;  and  it  must  be  remembered  that  in 
the  intervening  twenty  years  the  track  and  roadbed 
had  been  put  in  a  much  better  condition  tlian  at  the 
time  of  original  construction.  See  Reports  of  the 
U.  S.  Pacific  Railway  Commission,  Senate  Executive 
Documents,  50th  Congress,  1st  Session,  No.  51,  pp. 
4437-4468. 

289 


RUSSIAN   AUTOCRACY 

view  granted  to  the  correspondent  of  the 
"Frankfurter  Zeitung,"  did  not  hesitate  to 
acknowledge  that  the  cause  of  the  war  was 
"graft." 

"Whose  fault  is  it,  in  the  opinion  of  Your 
Highness,  that  affairs  have  taken  such  a 
course?"  he  was  asked. 

"In  the  present  episodes  the  fault  is  en- 
tirely with  Japan,  which  wants  the  war,  is 
prepared  for  the  war,  which  hates  Russia 
and  is  full  of  warlike  enthusiasm.  But  in 
general,  of  course,  such  a  situation  would 
never  have  arisen  if  we  had  adhered  to  a 
policy  of  civilization  rather  than  to  pro- 
moters' politics." 

"What  do  you  mean  by  promoters'  poli- 
tics?" 

"Oh,  there  are  plenty  of  ])eople  interested 
in  the  innumerable  millions  ni)propriated 
for  railroads,  etc.  The  'Chunchuses'  (Man- 
chm-inii  brigands)  .'ind  the  'raiiistoniis' 
have  so  fantastic.-illy  coin  plicated  the  work, 
290 


RUSSIAN   AUTOCRACY 

so  fantastically  increased  the  exi)enses,  that 
really,  without  being  particularly  suspi- 
cious, one  cannot  help  seeing  how  things 
were  managed  there." 

These  immediate  appetites  were  the  im- 
mediate little  causes  of  the  war,  but  not  the 
fundamental  cause.  The  great  cause  is 
pointed  out  by  Leontyeff.  It  was  the  thirst 
for  the  Asiatic  continent,  which  carries  in 
itself  conditions  so  favorable  to  a  perpetua- 
tion of  the  Russian  Autocracy  in  scecula 
sceculorum.  Manchuria,  with  its  millions  of 
strong,  warlike  people,  means  a  tremendous 
additional  strength,  a  great  step,  in  the 
realization  of  this  dream. 

And  will  this  dream  be  realized?  Cer- 
tainly not  in  the  light- in  which  the  Russian 
Autocracy  sees  it.  Theoretically  it  may  be 
a  very  pretty  scheme  of  checking  the  prog- 
ress of  Russian  civilization,  with  the  help 
of  Cossacks,  Turkomen,  and  Manchurian 
hordes.  But  the  time  element  was  entirely 
291 


RUSSIAN   AUTOCRACY 

left  out  of  consideration,  it  takes  no 
proj)liet  to  foresee  that  the  Russian  people 
will  finish  with  the  autocratic  regime  long 
before  it  possibly  can  take  a  new  lease  of 
life  in  Asia.  The  present  war  is  only  hast- 
ening the  crisis.  Even  such  an  optimistic 
and  stanch  advocate  of  Autocracy  as  Prince 
Meshcherski  takes  up  with  the  role  of  a 
Cassandra,  and  declares  that  he  does  not  ex- 
pect the  war  to  be  a  beneficial  thunder-storm 
that  will  clear  the  atmosi)here  for  the  Rus- 
sian Autocracy.  On  the  contrary^  no  matter 
if  Russian  arms  are  eventually  victorious, 
a  terrible  economic  decline  is  bound  to  fol- 
low, when  all  the  little  rivulets  and  channels 
will  unite  in  a  sea  of  general  dissatisfaction. 
Then,  we  may  confidently  add,  the  real 
regeneration  of  Russia  will  begin. 


202 


THE   SLAVS 


THE    SLAVS. 

Peter  Roberts 

When  a  Slovak  priest  was  asked :  "What 
is  the  meaning  of  the  word  Slav?"  he  in- 
stantly replied,  "Glory,"  and  added,  "In  all 
churches  wherein  the  Slavs  worship,  Slava 
Bogu  (glory  to  God)  is  chanted,  and  Slava 
is  the  same  word  as  Slav." 

This  is  the  interpretation  commonly  ac- 
cepted by  the  majority  of  the  race.  Schol- 
ars support  this  view  by  affirming  that  the 
root  from  which  the  word  is  derived  signi- 
fies "intelligence"  and  that  Slav  means  "the 
intelligible  people."  Others,  however,  de- 
rive the  word  from  a  root  signifying  "to 
call,"  and  affirm  that  Slav  means  the  "called 
ones" — those  who  are  commanded;  that  is, 
serfs  and  slaves.  The  foimer  interpretation 
represents  the  pride  and  expectation  of  the 
295 


THE    SLAVS 


Slavophiles,  who  believe  that  their  race  is 
providentially  destined  to  lead  the  world  in 
civilization,  by  preserving  and  perpetuating 
the  Christian  faith,  by  establishing  law  and 
order,  by  enforcing  obedience  to  authority, 
and  by  realizing  the  full  fruition  of  forces 
of  progress  which  are  now  arrested  by  the 
senility  of  European  nations  who  stand  at 
an  open  grave  wherein  the  glory  of  extinct 
kingdoms  is  buried.  The  latter  interpreta- 
tion represents  the  sentiments  of  the  Slavo- 
phobs,  who  believe  that  no  good  has  ever 
come  or  ever  will  come  from  the  Slav,  be- 
cause its  sons  are  the  arch-corrui)tionists  of 
the  Christian  faith;  the  uncompromising 
foes  of  democratic  institutions ;  the  destroy- 
ers of  the  inalienable  rights  to  freedom  of 
thought  and  of  conscience ;  and  the  greatest 
liiiidrance  to  the  onward  ])rogress  of  that 
(civilization  which  has  done  so  much  for  the 
peoples  of  Europe.  Both  i)ositions  are  those 
of  extremists,  and  each  is  wide  of  the  mark 
296 


THE    SLAVS 


chalked  out  by  the  judgment  of  history. 
This  article  is  a  study  of  the  Slav's  (I)  His- 
torical Development,  (II)  Racial  Charac- 
teristics, (HI)  Recent  Progress. 


I. 


The  Slav,  in  the  family  of  nations,  be- 
longs to  the  Indo-European  stem,  which 
comprises  the  Asiatic  and  European  Ar- 
yans. The  European  branch  separated  to 
north  and  south;  the  former  comprised  the 
Gennanic  and  the  Letto-Slavic  peoples;  the 
latter,  the  Greeks,  Italians,  and  Kelts.  The 
Letta-Slavs  were  separated  into  Letts  and 
Slavonians.  The  Slavonians  are  divided 
into  East,  West,  and  South  Slavs.  The 
East  branch  comprises  the  Great  Russians, 
the  Wliite  Russians,  and  the  Little  Rus- 
sians ;  the  West  branch,  the  Slavs  who  live 
on  the  Elbe,  the  Wends  of  Lusatia,  the  Poles 
who  dwell  in  the  extinct  kingdom  of  Poland 
297 


THE    SLAVS 


and  in  Galieia,  the  Czeks  in  Bohemia  and 
Meringia,  and  the  Slovaks  in  the  northern 
principality  of  Hungary;  the  South  branch 
comprises  the  Slavs  inhabiting  the  southeast 
portion  of  the  Alps  in  Austria,  the  Bulga- 
rians of  the  Danube,  and  the  inhabitants  of 
Croatia,  Servia,  Bosnia,  Herzegovina,  Mol- 
davia, and  Slavonia.  All  these  people  do 
not  speak  the  Slavic  language.  Those  on 
the  Elbe  have  been  Germanized,  those  of 
Moldavia  and  Slavonia  have  been  Roman- 
ized, and  many  in  the  Turkish  empire  are 
zealous  Mussulmans.  The  Bulgarians — a 
people  of  Ugrian  origin — have  alienated 
their  tongue  more  than  any  other  branch  of 
this  great  race,  while  the  Polish  language 
contains  many  foreign  elements.  Neverthe- 
less, the  vast  majority  of  Slavs  speak  the 
ancient  Slavic  language,  or  dialects  of  the 
same,  and  an  educated  K'uthenian  said  that 
he  had  little  difficulty  in  conversing  with 
representatives  of  the  100,000,000  Slavic 
298 


THE    SLAVS 


peoples.  At  the  head  of  these  millions  stand 
the  Great  Russians,  whose  language  in  mag- 
nificent prospect  rivals  that  of  any  race  and 
whose  dignity  and  strength  admirably  "fit 
it  to  be  the  tongue  of  an  imperial  people.*' 
No  date  can  be  fixed  for  the  coming  of 
the  Slav  to  Europe.  In  the  table  of  nations 
given  by  Herodotus  (450  b.c),  a  tribe,  the 
Budini,  is  described  as  having  blue  eyes  and 
blonde  hair.  These  people,  with  consider- 
able probability,  have  been  pointed  out  as 
the  ancestors  of  the  Slavs.  Pytheas  (200 
B.C.),  the  Massilian,  spoke  of  the  Germanic 
tribes  but  not  of  the  Slavs.  Tacitus  (100 
A.D.)  and  Ptolemy  (150  a.d.)  spoke  of  the 
Wends — a  name  given  the  Slavs  by  the 
Germans.  The  first  time  the  word  appeared 
in  history  was  in  the  work  of  the  Gothic 
historian,  Jordanes  (600  b.c),  who  men- 
tioned the  "Sclavini  et  Antes"  among  the 
unsettled  peoples  of  Eastern  Europe.  The 
Teutons  preceded  the  Slavs  on  the  Conti- 
299 


THE    SLAVS 


nent;  the  former  first  settled  on  the  shores 
of  the  Pontus,  and,  moving  westward  over 
the  highlands  of  Central  Europe,  settled  be- 
tween the  Vistula  and  the  Elbe ;  the  latter, 
moving  in  the  same  direction  from  the 
shores  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  settled  between 
the  Dwina  and  the  Vistula.  The  Teutons, 
following  the  rivers  emptying  into  the  At- 
lantic Ocean,  became  the  heirs  of  the  civ- 
ilization of  the  Mediterranean  races  and 
found  their  sphere  of  influence  in  hospitable 
regions;  the  Slavs,  following  those  empty- 
ing into  the  Arctic  Ocean,  settled  among 
peoples  living  in  the  hunting  and  fishing 
stages  of  civilization,  and  found  their  sphere 
of  influence  limited  to  inhosjiitable  regions. 
These  facts,  in  part,  exi)lain  the  Slav's  slow 
progress  in  civilization  as  compared  with 
the  Kelts  and  Teutons. 

The  ])lains  of  Russia,  from  time  immem- 
orablo,  have  been  the  scene  of  Mongolian 
and  Tartar  invasions.     Over  these  the  no- 
300 


THE    SLAVS 


mad  Slavs  wandered,  but  little  is  known  of 
their  movements  during  the  first  three  cen- 
turies of  the  Christian  era.  At  the  close  of 
the  third  century,  Slavs  were  found  in  the 
Balkan  peninsula,  where  probably  they 
were  transported  as  prisoners  of  war.  Two 
centuries  later,  they  drove  out  the  dwellers 
in  the  plains  east  of  the  Carpathian  moun- 
tains, and,  in  the  following  century,  Herac- 
lius,  the  Byzantine  Emperor,  employed 
them  as  a  bulwark  against  the  incursions 
of  the  Avars.  Slav  nomads,  at  this  early 
date,  proved  themselves  brave  warriors. 
When  a  company  of  them  was  brought  into 
the  camp  of  the  Khazars,  a  sage  prophesied : 
"These  men's  swords  have  two  edges ;  ours 
have  but  one.  We  conquer  now,  but  some 
day  they  will  conquer  us."  The  prophecy 
was  fulfilled  in  the  tenth  century.  In  the 
seventh  century  the  Serbs  left  their  home 
on  the  Carpathian  mountains  and  joined 
their  brethren  in  the  Balkan  peninsula.  The 
301 


THE    SLAVS 


Bulgarians,  settling  about  the  middle  of  the 
seventh  century  in  Moesia,  conquered  the 
Slavs  of  the  Balkans,  and  for  three  cen- 
turies held  their  own  against  the  Huns,  the 
Turks,  and  Byzantium.  The  Slavs  of  the 
south  must  have  played  a  leading  part  in 
these  conflicts,  for  by  the  ninth  century  they 
had  so  Slavonized  their  conquerors  that  the 
old  Finnish  tongue  was  abandoned  and  the 
Slavic  language  adopted  in  divine  worship. 
In  the  eighth  century,  two  streams  of  Slavic 
colonizers  moved  eastward  to  the  western 
plains  of  Russia.  The  northern  left  the  ter- 
ritory watered  by  the  Elbe  and  Vistula,  the 
southern  that  of  the  Danube.  These,  living 
in  democratic  communities,  were  soon  to 
consolidate  and  enter  into  llie  arena  where 
the  nations  of  two  conliuciils  wrestled  for 
the  mast(!ry. 

Thus,  for  five  Imiidicd  years,  when  i^'iiins 
and   Norsemen,    I  Inns  .mikI    Avars,    Mongo- 
lians  and   'I'arlais,    sliiftcd    llic    nations    of 
302 


THE    SLAVS 


Europe  as  the  simoon  the  sands  of  the  des- 
ert, the  Slav  maintained  his  individuality, 
preserved  his  ty|3e,  and  kept  his  language 
essentially  intact.  His  wanderings  brought 
him  to  the  Elbe  on  the  north  and  to  Austria 
and  Greece  on  the  south.  As  the  tenth  cen- 
tury dawned,  he  stood  in  the  vigor  of  youth 
on  the  plains  where  kingdoms  rise  and 
wane:  "The  archers  have  sorely  grieved 
him,  and  shot  at  him  and  persecuted  him, 
but  his  bow  abode  in  strength,  and  the  arms 
of  his  hands  were  made  strong." 

Each  of  the  Slav  groups  now  consoli- 
dated. The  Serbs  formed  a  kingdom  in  old 
Illyricum  and  a  part  of  Moesia;  the  Poles 
on  the  highland  where  the  Vistula  and  Oder 
rise;  and  the  Russians  in  the  vicinity  of 
Lake  Illmen.  Rurik,  the  Norseman,  led  the 
Russians,  and,  by  conquering  the  neighbor- 
ing Slav  tribes,  firmly  established  a  dynasty 
of  kings  who  ruled  for  six  centuries.  His 
son  and  grandson  extended  their  kingdom 
303 


THE    SLAVS 


southward  and  engaged  the  armies  of  By- 
zantium, and  for  the  first  time  a  Muscovite 
king  coveted  the  Golden  Horn.  Igor  did 
not  succeed  (941  a.d.)  in  capturing  Con- 
stantinople, but  in  the  following  year  a 
treaty  of  peace  was  made  and  signed  by 
fifty  of  his  chiefs,  among  whom  three  were 
Slavs.  To  the  southwest  of  the  kingdom  of 
Russia,  a  rival  rose  under  the  leadership 
of  i)rinces  of  native  blood.  Located  on  an 
undulating  plain,  having  no  natural  bul- 
warks against  the  onslaught  of  powerful 
rivals,  the  rise  of  the  Polish  kingdom  was 
more  precarious  than  that  of  its  kinsmen  to 
the  north.  On  the  west  were  the  Germans ; 
on  the  north  the  Scandinavians ;  on  the  east, 
the  most  dangerous  foe  of  all,  the  Russians. 
With  these  foes  Poland  struggled  for  eight 
hundred  years,  and  at  last  was  ruined  by 
the  selfishness  of  its  aristocracy,  the  intrigue 
of  its  ecclesiastics,  and  the  serfdom  of  its 
peasantry.  The  Serbs  in  lUyricum  and 
304 


THE    SLAVS 


Moesia  established  a  kingdom  which  lasted 
four  centuries.  The  leadershii)  was  taken 
by  one  of  the  Zupans  into  which  the  terri- 
tory was  divided,  and,  notwithstanding  the 
close  proximity  of  Byzantium,  its  power 
in  the  twelfth  century  enabled  it  to  com- 
pete successfully  with  the  Greek  emperors. 
In  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries, 
the  Serbs  maintained  their  independency 
against  the  attacks  of  Mongols,  Huns,  and 
Greeks.  The  unhappy  people,  however, 
were  destined  to  lose  their  independence. 
After  a  brief  taste  of  civilization,  they  were 
sent  back  to  the  yoke  of  their  ignorant  and 
unsympathetic  Ottoman  masters  by  the  com- 
plete defeat  sustained  at  the  hand  of  the 
Turks  in  "the  field  of  blackbirds"  (1389). 
For  four  hundred  years  did  the  iron  yoke 
of  the  Mussulmans  rest  heavily  upon  the 
Serbs,  and  Servia  lost  the  best  of  her  sons, 
who  migrated  to  escape  the  tyranny  of  the 
Turk.  In  1804,  this  branch  of  the  Slav  race 
305 


THE    SLAVS 


rose  in  rebellion  and  was  finally  saved  from 
complete  defeat  by  the  intervention  of  Rus- 
sia. 

During  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  cen- 
turies, the  kingdoms  of  Poland  and  Russia 
paid  tribute  to  the  Mongol,  and,  although 
they  escaped  the  fate  of  their  brethren  of 
the  south,  their  suffering  was  second  only 
to  that  of  Servia.  Tartars  swept  over  their 
plains,  burned  their  towns  and  villages,  and 
forced  their  princes  to  bow  the  knee  to  the 
Great  Khan.  While  the  struggle  went  on, 
the  so-called  Christian  nations  of  Europe 
looked  on  complacently,  and,  while  the  Slav 
was  buffeted,  took  no  interest  in  the  war 
except  in  so  far  as  their  own  safety  was 
threatened.  After  two  centuries  of  bondage, 
the  Slavs  of  the  east  and  west  threw  off  the 
Mongol's  yoke,  but  for  another  two  cen- 
turies this  ])eoi)le  fonned  the  bulwark  of 
Kurojie  against  Tartar  invasions,  until  at 
last  the  pious  John  Sobieski  and  his  Poles, 
306 


THE    SLAVS 


in  1683,  came  to  the  relief  of  Austria,  and 
drove  the  Mongols  from  the  continent.  He, 
as  Charles  Martel  before  him,  saved  Chris- 
tendom from  the  Mohammedans,  and  was 
greeted  from  the  altar  of  the  cathedral  of 
Vienna,  wherein  kings  and  princes  returned 
thanks  for  the  victory,  with  the  text:  "There 
was  a  man  sent  from  God  whose  name  was 
John."  The  Poles  made  themselves  a  vica- 
rious sacrifice  and  were  rewarded  by  Chris- 
tian Europe  with  wounds  which  finally 
proved  fatal.  The  craftiness  of  the  house 
of  Hapsburg,  the  jealousy  of  their  Teutonic 
neighbors,  the  invasion  of  the  Scandina- 
vians, the  rivalry  of  Russia,  were  more  than 
Poland  could  resist.  Weakened  by  foes 
from  without  and  torn  by  internal  dissen- 
sion, Poland  became  the  land  of  war,  of 
tumult,  and  of  plunder.  Its  streets  were 
bathed  in  blood,  its  fields  were  burned  by  its 
own  sons,  and  the  tramp  of  foreign  armies 
sealed  the  doom  of  the  second  kingdom  of 
307 


THE    SLAVS 


the  Slavic  peoples.  Its  fate  was  determined 
in  1772.  Russia  took  the  lion's  share,  sub- 
dued the  arrogance  of  its  nobles,  established 
peace  and  order  in  the  land,  and  made  pos- 
sible the  economic  advancement  of  this  bril- 
liant branch  of  the  Slavic  race. 

The  fall  of  Poland  left  Russia  the  sole 
representative  of  the  Slav  among  the  king- 
doms of  the  earth.  The  Muscovites  waxed 
strong  and  built  their  kingdom  upon  the 
wrecks  of  democratic  communities.  The 
nomads  of  the  south  gave  them  considerable 
trouble.  One  of  their  chroniclers  says: 
"They  burn  the  villages,  the  farmyards,  and 
the  churches.  The  land  is  turned  by  them 
into  a  desert,  and  the  government  fields  be- 
come the  lair  of  wild  beasts.  Many  people 
are  led  away  into  slavery ;  others  are  tort- 
ured and  killed,  or  die  from  hunger  and 
thirst."  Another  says:  "In  the  Russian 
land  is  rarely  heard  the  voice  of  the  hus- 
bandman, but  often  the  cry  of  the  vultures 
308 


THE    SLAVS 


fighting  with  each  other  over  the  bodies  of 
the  slain,  and  the  ravens  scream  as  they  fly 
to  the  spoil."  The  Khan  of  the  Crimea,  the 
Cossacks  of  the  Don,  the  Turks  of  the  Otto- 
man Empire,  made  periodical  incursions  for 
booty  and  for  slaves,  and  for  centuries  the 
Slav's  sword  saved  Europe  from  barbaric 
hordes.  Russia  is  called  the  "nation  of  the 
sword,"  and  well  it  was  for  the  continent 
that  its  sons  could  wield  it  so  mightily,  for 
no  other  means  was  effectual  to  check  the 
advance  of  the  Tartars,  whose  torch  and 
scimitar  wrought  untold  havoc.  The  blood- 
thirsty ruler,  Mahmoud,  with  the  instincts 
of  the  savage,  revelled  in  shedding  the  blood 
of  Christians,  and  nothing  but  the  merciless 
Slav  could  bring  the  merciless  Turk  to 
reason. 

But  at  home  the  Slav's  hand  was  not  less 

gentle.     The   boyars   sometimes   rose   and 

slew  their  princes.    Their  conduct  gave  rise 

to  the  proverb,  "If  the  prince  is  bad,  into 

309 


THE    SLAVS 


the  mud  with  him."  No  Taii^r  ever  wit- 
nessed more  bloody  conflicts  than  those 
waged  by  Ivan  the  Terrible  in  Novgorod, 
in  1570.  The  Slavs  used  the  iron  hand,  but 
the  work  they  had  to  do  and  the  material 
upon  which  they  worked  required  the  sol- 
dier more  than  the  priest.  Peter  the  Great, 
with  his  master  mind,  found  it  necessary  to 
drown  the  arrogance,  prejudices,  and  super- 
stitions of  his  nobles  in  blood.  Not  till  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  was  the 
Slav  recognized  among  the  powers  of  Eu- 
rope, when  the  light  of  western  civilization 
began  to  stream  through  the  window  oi)ened 
by  the  greatest  of  the  Muscovite  Czars  on 
the  Baltic  Sea.  In  the  nineteenth  century, 
the  Slav  stood  forth  as  the  champion  of 
diiistiaiis  who  groaned  under  Mussulman's 
misrule.  Christian  P]urope  stood  aloof 
when  their  co-religionists  wtu'o  mercilessly 
slain  l)y  Ottomans,  but  the  Slav  comi)elled 
the  Sultan  to  honor  the  conscience  of  their 

;^i() 


THE    SLAVS 


brethren,  and,  releasing  Moldavia,  Wal- 
lacliia,  Servia,  and  Bulgaria  from  the  Turk- 
ish yoke,  caused  a  new  era  to  dawn  for 
them.  Russia's  work  in  Turkey  is  one  of 
the  brightest  pages  of  nineteenth-century 
history.  The  Slav,  regenerated  by  the  leav- 
en of  new  ideals,  has  earned  the  distinction, 
on  more  than  one  occasion,  of  being  the 
restorer  of  law  and  order  among  the  king- 
doms of  Europe.  The  Crimean  War  rudely 
awoke  him  from  his  self-confidence,  pride, 
and  ignorance,  and,  as  the  smoke  of  conflict 
cleared,  he  saw  a  brighter  day  dawning, 
which  the  emancipation  of  the  serfs,  in  1861, 
proclaimed  to  all  the  earth.  Russia,  after  a 
thousand  years  of  warfare  and  strife,  is 
to-day  a  worthy  leader  in  the  Pan-Slavic 
movement,  whose  ideal  is  the  hegemony  in 
the  industrial,  commercial,  and  religious  af- 
fairs of  the  world. 


311 


THE    SLAVS 


II. 

Is  the  Slav  capable  of  this? 

The  average  Slav,  anthropologically  con- 
sidered, is  as  good  an  animal  as  the  average 
member  of  any  European  people.  The 
dolichocephalic  Saxon  looks  with  prejudice 
upon  the  brachycephalic  Slav,  but  all  cra- 
nial forms  possess  only  an  artificial  value 
and  tell  us  nothing  respecting  the  several 
grades  of  mental  power  contained  within. 
If  we  take  cranial  capacity,  which  most  dis- 
tinguishes man  from  the  apes,  and  study  the 
measurements  obtained  from  the  researches 
of  A.  Weisbach  and  Harmann  Welcker,  we 
fnul  that  they  are  not  unfavorable  to  the 
Slavs.  The  average  weight  of  the  brain  of 
Germans  is  1314.5  grains;  that  of  Magyars 
1322.8;  that  of  Slavs,  1325.2.  If  it  is 
claimed  that  the  capacity  of  the  skull  is  of 
312 


THE    SLAVS 


more  importance  in  ethnology  than  the 
weight  of  the  brain,  the  Slavs  need  not  be 
ashamed  of  this  test.  The  average  capacity 
of  the  skull  of  Kelts  is  1459  cubic  centi- 
metres ;  that  of  Magyars,  1422 ;  that  of  Ger- 
mans, 1470 ;  and  that  of  Slavs,  1478.  Again, 
if  we  take  the  discovery  of  Calori  of  Bo- 
logna, we  must  believe  that  the  brachy- 
cephali  have  heavier  brains  than  the  doli- 
chocephali,  which  is  decidedly  in  favor  of 
the  Slavs,  whose  index  of  breadth  varies 
from  81.6  to  85.1,  that  of  Germans  from 
76.7  to  80.1,  that  of  Kelts  from  73.4  to  79.5. 
Thus  if  the  capacity  of  the  cranium,  the 
weight  of  the  brain,  or  the  form  of  the  skull, 
has  anything  to  do  with  the  future  domi- 
nancy  of  the  world,  the  Slav's  chance  is  as 
good  as  that  of  any  race  on  the  continent 
of  Europe. 

No  scientist  has  discovered  in  the  Slav 
pithecoid  features  which  assign  him  a  lower 
place  than  that  occupied  by  the  peoples  of 
313 


THE    SLAVS 


Europe^  in  the  supposed  hierarchy  of  the 
races  of  mankind.  Virchow  has  shown  that 
prognathy  is  inconsistent  with  the  full  de- 
velopment of  the  brain,  and  that  the  prog- 
nathous tyi)e  of  face  is  almost  exclusively 
confined  to  nations  in  which  civilization  ap- 
pears somewhat  immature.  But  this  unpro- 
pitious  joosition  of  the  jaw  is  not  more 
prevalent  among  the  Slavs  than  among 
other  European  races.  It  is  not  so  common 
in  Moscow  as  in  Paris,  and  cases  of  prog- 
nathy can  be  seen  as  frequently  in  England 
and  Germany  as  in  Russia.  Craniologists 
have  also  shown  that  i)rognathy  prevails  as 
a  rule  in  narrow  skulls,  while  medium  and 
broad  skulls  are  mostly  mesognathous  or  oc- 
casionally opistognathous,  which  fact  again 
favors  the  Slav.  The  shortness  of  the  upper 
liiiil)s  separates  man  from  the  animals  which 
most  resemble  him.  Carl  Vogt  has  ex- 
])ressed  Ihis  relation  by  saying  that  the 
onmg  can,  in  an  erect  i)Osition,  touch  his 
314 


THE    SLAVS 


ankles;  the  gorilla,  the  middle  of  the  tibia; 
the  chimpanzee,  the  knee ;  whereas  man  can 
scarcely  reach  the  middle  of  the  thigh. 
Weisbach's  measurements  show  that  the  av- 
erage length  of  the  arms  of  Germans  is 
0.469  of  the  length  of  the  body,  and  that  of 
Slavs,  0.4G7.  If,  finally,  the  bodily  height 
and  weight  of  the  average  Slav  are  com- 
pared with  those  of  the  average  mem- 
ber of  the  European  races,  the  result  is  as 
favorable  to  the  former  as  to  the  latter. 
Snigriew,  after  a  careful  comparison  of  the 
measurements  of  German,  Lithuanian,  Po- 
lish, and  Russian  recruits,  concluded  that 
there  was  no  practical  difference  between 
the  several  peoples.  Thus,  anthropologi- 
cally or  ethnologically  considered,  the  Slav 
is  not  a  whit  behind  those  nations  who  claim 
a  right  to  lead  in  the  civilization  of  the 
world  because  of  greater  fitness  to  discharge 
the  duties  and  obligations  involved  in  the 
task. 

315 


THE    SLAYS 


If  we  compare  the  social  and  industrial 
life  of  the  Slav  with  that  of  the  Teuton,  he 
must  be  assigned  a  lower  place  in  the  his- 
tory of  civilization.  Industrially  consid- 
ered, the  great  mass  of  the  Slav  race  is  an 
elemental  people,  making,  with  their  own 
hands,  in  their  own  homes,  what  they  wear 
and  use.  Under  the  stern  rule  of  many  of 
the  Czars,  men  who  dreamed  of  making 
their  brethren  happy,  virtuous,  and  refined 
were  sent  to  exile  and  the  scaffold.  The 
social  awakening  that  followed  the  revolu- 
tion of  1848-1849  was  energetically  arrested 
by  Nicholas,  who  substituted  "the  French 
quadrille  in  the  place  of  Adam  Smith." 
The  majority  of  Slav  agriculturalists  are 
still  in  the  primitive  stage.  The  margin  be- 
tween the  real  want  and  the  felt  want  of  the 
Slav  is  small.  The  masses  wear  compara- 
tively little  underclothing;  the  favorite  ma- 
terials emi)loyed  in  native  cookery  arc  sour 
cabbage,  cucumbers,  and  kvass.  Eternal 
316 


THE    SLAVS 


stillness  is  the  character  of  Slav  provincial 
life.  The  system  of  public  instruction  in 
Russia  is  inadequate.  The  paternalism  of 
the  government  has  been  fatal  to  individual 
initiative;  autocracy  has  strangled  all  at- 
tempts at  constitutional  government;  and 
religious  authority,  while  suppressing  free- 
dom of  conscience,  has  tolerated  gross  su- 
perstition and  buried  the  essential  principles 
of  morality  under  a  weight  of  sensuous 
forms  and  mysterious  rites.  The  emigrant 
Slav  in  an  American  police  court  considers 
the  most  barefaced  and  patent  falsehood  as 
a  fair  means  of  self-defence,  and  many  of 
them  have  very  lax  ideas  as  to  the  rights 
of  persons  and  property.  These  specks  and 
blemishes  are  visible,  but  the  student  will 
patiently  study  the  phenomena  and  seek  the 
deep-rooted  causes  by  which  these  specks 
and  blemishes  are  produced  rather  than 
make  sweeping  generalizations.  Catherine 
said  of  Riviere,  the  French  physiocrat:  "He 
317 


THE    SLAVS 


supposed  we  walked  on  all  fours,  and  very 
politely  lie  took  the  trouble  to  come  from 
La  Martinique  to  teach  us  how  to  stand  on 
the  hind  legs."  Teutons  and  Kelts  have 
manifested  the  same  proud  contempt  for 
the  Slav  in  modern  times,  giving  little 
thought  to  the  fact  that  he  is  the  child  of  a 
different  civilization  from  our  own. 

The  Slav  has  lived  under  the  iron  hand 
of  autocracy.  Outside  the  Mir  he  has  no 
voice  in  the  government.  It  is  second  nat- 
ure in  him  to  obey.  When  Teutonic  kings 
had  to  struggle  with  municipal  institutions 
to  prevent  them  from  becoming  too  power- 
ful, the  Czars  had  to  struggle  to  prevent 
them  from  committing  suicide  or  dying  of 
inanition.  The  Slav,  accustomed  to  lean  on 
the  arm  of  autocracy,  has  not  advanced  on 
the  road  of  i)rogress  in  a  smooth,  gradual, 
and  prosaic  way  as  Teutons  do,  but  rather 
by  a  series  of  unconnected  and  frantic  ef- 
forts as  the  whim  i)ossessed  the  autocrat. 
318 


THE    SLAVS 


Slavs  regard  the  state  as  an  entity  wholly 
distinct  from  themselves  and  having  inter- 
ests entirely  different  from  their  own,  and 
the  state  never  hesitated  ruthlessly  to  sacri- 
fice the  interests  of  the  individual  when  its 
own  were  involved.  Under  a  state  policy 
that  knows  no  change  generation  after  gen- 
eration, the  boundaries  of  the  empire  have 
been  extended,  so  that  to-day  the  Czar's  sons 
are  seen  on  the  shores  of  the  Arctic  and 
Pacific  oceans,  on  the  frontier  of  China  and 
in  Central  Asia,  the  embodiment  of  patient 
endurance,  of  dogged  resistance,  and  stoical 
fortitude.  Fed  on  sour  cabbage,  soup,  black 
bread,  dried  fish,  and  weak  tea,  the  Slav 
soldier  is  patient,  good-natured,  and  never 
complains.  On  sea  or  land  he  is  obedient, 
tenacious  of  purpose,  self-confident,  and 
contented ;  is  never  anxious  for  the  morrow, 
for  his  plans  embrace  generations  yet  un- 
born. 

The  results  are  that  in  Turkestan  and  in 
319 


THE    SLAVS 


Central  Asia,  the  Slav  has  wrought  won- 
ders. He  has  established  law  and  order 
where  anarchy  once  prevailed;  the  wilder- 
ness has  blossomed  under  his  rule ;  avenues 
of  commerce  have  been  opened  and  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth  enriched ;  the  barbarian  is 
on  the  highway  to  industrial  efficiency,  for 
the  robber  chief  is  sui)i)ressed  and  the  tillers 
of  the  soil  find  their  persons  and  property 
safe.  In  Siberia,  the  Slav  is  at  his  best. 
This  former  land  of  convicts,  by  the  indus- 
try and  thrift  of  the  colonizers  is  become 
one  of  the  greatest  wheat  granaries  of  the 
world.  On  the  slopes  of  the  Pacific,  the 
robber  bands  who  defied  Mongolian  rulers 
have  been  annihilated,  and  Chinese  and  Slav 
farmers  feel  perfectly  secure  under  the  i)ro- 
tection  of  the  Muscovite.  Pekin  has  been 
brought  within  two  weeks'  journey  of  Mos- 
cow, and  llic  Kuasian  steamers  between 
Odessa  and  Port  Arllmr  afford  facilities 
for  travelling  and  coiniiicrce  second  to  none 
320 


THE    SLAVS 


in  the  world.  At  home  the  same  strong 
hand  guides  the  destiny  of  the  Empire.  By 
the  dictum  of  the  Czar  40,000,000  serfs  were 
liberated.  It  was  the  greatest  reform  of  the 
nineteenth  century  and  effected  without  a 
revolution.  The  nobility  were  deprived  of 
their  land,  the  serfs  given  freehold  claims, 
and  the  conditions  of  the  transaction  laid 
down  by  the  Autocrat  of  St.  Petersburg.  A 
ukase  establishes  the  gold  standard,  erects 
a  tariff  wall  around  the  empire,  fosters  in- 
fant industries,  takes  under  its  protection 
the  vodka  shops  of  the  empire,  curbs  the 
selfishness  of  employers  and  the  arrogance 
of  employees,  and  makes  industrial  war  a 
crime.  A  ukase  prohibits  the  black  clergy 
from  deviating  from  the  rules  of  St.  Basil, 
refuses  permission  to  a  Russian  once  within 
the  pale  of  the  orthodox  church  to  depart 
thence,  commands  the  white  clerg}^  to  re- 
frain from  innovation,  secures  the  laity  uni- 
formity and  continuity  in  divine  worship, 
321 


THE    SLAVS 


plants  churches  wherever  its  children  go  as 
colonizers,  and  secures  its  Mohammedan, 
Roman  Catholic,  and  Protestant  subjects 
immunity  from  persecution.  Paternalism  is 
the  very  breath  of  life  of  the  Russian  Gov- 
ernment, and  if  the  Slav  has  lost  individual 
initiative  he  has  gained  in  obedience  to 
authority ;  if  he  has  lost  constitutional  gov- 
ernment, he  has  gained  immunity  against 
the  arrogance  of  nobles  and  the  breed  of 
entrepreneurs ;  if  he  has  lost  freedom  of 
opinion  and  freedom  of  conscience,  he  has 
gained  exemption  from  the  tyranny  of  ma- 
jorities, the  vicissitudes  of  public  elections, 
and  the  multiplicity  of  sects.  Autocracy 
and  democracy  have  their  weak  and  strong 
j)oints.  It  is  not  our  task  to  decide  which 
is  the  better  for  a  nation.  The  Slav  is  the 
child  of  autocratic  power  and  none  dare  say 
that  his  efficiency  among  the  nations  of  the 
world  is  coni])roinised  thereby.  On  the 
shores  of  the  racific,  on  the  ta])le-hmds  of 
322 


THE    SLAVS 


Tibet,  on  the  plateaus  of  Mongolia,  on  the 
broad  plains  of  Siberia,  the  Slav  has  been 
a  presiding  genius.  When  he  has  spoken  in 
Pekin,  or  Cabool,  or  Teheran,  or  Constan- 
tinople, the  nations  of  Europe  have  been 
silent  and  emperors  taken  council. 
But  the  Slav  peasant ; 

"  A  thing  that  groans  not  and  that  never  hopes. 
Stolid  and  stunned,  a  brother  to  the  ox  ?  " 

what  of  him?  Mr.  N.  T.  Bacon  has  said 
{Yale  Review,  May,  1904,  p.  53) :  "From 
our  standpoint  the  Russian  peasant  is  idle 
and  good-for-nothing."  A.  J.  Beveridge 
thinks  differently  ("Russian  Advance,"  p. 
319) :  "He  it  is  who  tills  the  soil  and  fills 
the  factories;  he  who  consumes  the  tea, 
drinks  the  vodka,  pays  the  taxes;  he  who 
equips  the  army  and  fights  the  empire's  bat- 
tles; he  who  mans  the  ships  of  Russia's 
growing  fleets ;  he  on  whom  the  whole  gov- 
ernment rests;  he  who  holds  in  his  breast 
323 


THE    SLAVS 


the  destiny  of  the  Slav  race."  Consider  the 
following  picture  by  the  same  author  (p. 
304) :  "They  (the  peasants)  were  working 
at  their  'kustar  trades'  in  that  short  period 
between  the  cultivation  of  their  fields  and 
the  harvest  of  the  grain  which  was  not  yet 
ripe.  Thus  their  time  and  labor  were  turned 
into  productive  industry.  In  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  the  little  country  villages  *  *  * 
workingmen  employ  every  moment  of  their 
time  during  the  long  winter  months  in  some 
kind  of  manufacture.  Not  only  the  men, 
but  the  women  and  children,  work  at  these 
trades."  A  people  who  in  1902  supported 
themselves  and  exported  $420,000,000  worth 
of  goods  composed  of  62  per  cent,  of  grain 
and  provisions,  and  32  per  cent,  of  raw  and 
undressed  materials,  and  only  two  per  cent, 
of  cotton  goods ;  a  people  who,  working  at 
their  "kustar  trades"  between  sowing  and 
harvest  or  during  winter,  sup])ly  about  nine- 
tenths  of  the  goods  for  domestic  consump- 
324 


THE    SLAVS 


tion ;  a  people  who  paid  in  taxation  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  imperial  government 
$900,000,000  and  manned  the  army  and 
navy  which  guard  the  frontiers  or  protect 
the  coast,  ought  to  be  counted  good  for 
something,  no  matter  from  what  standpoint 
they  are  studied. 

There  are,  in  the  United  States,  about  a 
million  and  a  quarter  Slav  immigrants  who 
represent  the  peasant  class.  Whoever  has 
studied  them  in  the  mines  and  on  the  farms, 
in  the  mills  and  on  the  wharfs,  in  the  for- 
ests and  on  the  rivers,  must  bear  testimony 
to  their  daring  courage,  constant  industry, 
prompt  obedience,  and  patient  endurance. 
Men  believed  a  generation  ago  that  the 
mining  industry  of  Pennsylvania  could  not 
be  carried  on  if  the  English  and  Welsh, 
Irish  and  Scotch,  Germans  and  Americans 
were  withdrawn.  To-day,  in  eight  shafts  in 
the  Mahanoy  Valley  employing  about  2500 
contract  miners,  less  than  5  per  cent,  of 
325 


THE    SLAVS 


them  are  Kelts  and  Teutons.  The  Poles, 
Ruthenian^,  and  Slovaks  get  out  the  coal 
and  the  per  capita  production  is  to-day 
greater  than  it  was  twenty-five  years  ago, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  operation 
requires  three  times  the  muscular  effort 
which  it  then  required.  In  1903,  over  five 
hundred  of  these  men  sacrificed  their  lives 
in  the  collieries  of  Pennsylvania,  and  an- 
other army  of  1500  was  injured  in  this  risky 
business.  The  Slav  will  work  where  "white 
men"  will  not;  he  is  willing  to  work  ten, 
twelve,  and  fourteen  hours  a  day  if  he  can 
earn  high  wages.  He  is  patient  and  per- 
severing, sometimes  stupid  and  slow,  but 
often  also  apt  and  efficient.  Always  the 
Slav  is  amenable  to  discipline,  submissive 
to  authority,  and  silent  under  difficulties. 
He  is  easily  led,  believes  absolutely  in  and 
idolizes  his  leader,  is  easily  excited,  and 
when  aroused  soon  forgets  tlie  teachings  of 
civilization  and  falls  to  the  unstable  nature 
326 


THE    SLAVS 


of  his  barbaric  ancestors.  Many  Slavs  are 
unclean ;  all  drink ;  their  quarrels  and  fights 
are  fiendish  in  their  atrocities;  their  stand- 
ard of  living  is  low;  their  social  customs 
repugnant,  and  some  of  their  religious  prac- 
tices are  tainted  with  superstition.  But  in 
all  this  we  speak  as  Americans,  we  judge 
as  Americans,  and  our  standard  is  the  high- 
est ever  attained  in  the  history  of  civiliza- 
tion. Compare  the  social  and  moral  con- 
ditions of  Slav  mining  communities  with 
those  of  Great  Britain  as  depicted  in  the 
Parliamentary  report  of  1866,  or  compare 
their  life  to-day  with  that  found  in  anthra- 
cite communities  in  1876  by  Abram  S. 
Hewitt:  "In  1876  *  *  *  I  made  a  tour  of 
inspection  through  the  mining  regions.  T 
found  terrible  conditions  there.  I  found  the 
men  living  like  pigs  and  dogs,  under  wretch- 
edly brutal  conditions."  These  were  immi- 
grants of  the  British  Isles,  and  few  Slav 
settlements  to-day  deserve  so  dark  a  setting. 
327 


THE    SLAYS 


The  Moujik  has  many  undesirable  quali- 
ties. But  let  us  remember  that  yesterday  he 
was  a  serf  who  could  be  sold  as  the  ox  and 
the  horse.  If  he  ran  away  or  dared  to  pre- 
sent a  petition  against  his  master,  he  was 
beaten  with  the  knout  or  sent  to  the  mines 
in  Siberia.  His  proprietor  could  impose  on 
him  every  kind  of  labor,  could  take  from 
him  money  dues,  could  demand  from  him 
personal  service,  and  could  send  the  prom- 
ising youth  to  the  army.  Is  it  strange, 
then,  that  these  men  bear  in  their  body  and 
mind  the  marks  of  twenty  centuries  of  serf- 
dom? And  yet  this  peasant — the  heir  of 
five  centuries  of  vassalage — is  good-natured 
and  pacific,  is  adaptable  and  imperturbable, 
has  an  instinct  for  organization,  is  an  apt 
pupil  under  competent  masters,  is  admira- 
bly fitted  for  the  work  of  peaceful  agricul- 
tural colonization,  is  long-suffering  and  con- 
ciliatory, and  capable  of  bearing  extreme 
hardships.  When  he  is  taken  out  of  the 
328 


THE    SLAVS 


environment  where  the  blight  of  serfdom  is 
still  felt  and  comes  in  contact  with  foreign 
nations,  he  immediately  adopts  foreign 
ideas  and  foreign  inventions.  When  freed 
from  the  trammels  of  hereditary  concep- 
tions, when  liberated  from  the  bondage  of 
clannish  suspicion,  when  once  he  treads  the 
path  of  industrial  and  commercial  specula- 
tion, his  "go-ahead"  is  truly  American. 
Practical  common-sense  sways  the  vast  ma- 
jority of  this  people.  Sentimental  consid- 
erations and  loud-sounding  phrases  have 
very  little  if  any  place  in  their  life.  What 
they  want  is  a  house  to  live  in,  food  to  eat, 
raiment  wherewith  to  be  clothed.  Neo-Mal- 
thusianism  is  not  in  the  Slav's  creed;  both 
men  and  women  believe  that  children  are 
"an  heritage  of  the  Lord"  and  are  "as 
arrows  in  the  hand  of  a  mighty  man." 
Bachelors  and  spinsters  are  not  found 
among  them.  In  no  country  in  Europe  is 
the  birth-rate  so  high  as  among  Slavs,  and 
329 


THE    SLAVS 


medical  science,  in  recent  years,  has  benefi- 
cently checked  infant  mortality  among  the 
peasants.  With  the  increase  of  material 
well-being,  of  intellectual  and  moral  culture, 
refined  sensitiveness  and  keen  sympathy 
with  physical  suffering  are  becoming  char- 
acteristics of  Slavs.  Slav  peasantry  is  fal- 
low ground  for  the  seed  of  a  higher  civ- 
ilization, and  none  better  appreciates  the 
light.  This  young  giant,  who  "hath  as  it 
were  the  strength  of  the  wild  ox,"  and  who 
"as  a  lion  doth  lift  himself  up,"  turns  his 
face,  radiant  with  hope,  to  the  rising  sun. 
He  is  conscious  of  a  mission  to  perform; 
he  shakes  himself  from  the  dust;  he  looses 
himself  from  the  bands  of  his  neck,  "he 
shall  not  lie  down  until  he  eat  of  the  prey 
and  drink  the  blood  of  the  slain." 


330 


THE    SLAVS 


III. 

Signs  of  the  Slav's  progress  are  not  want- 
ing. Ethno-sentimental  considerations  are 
moving  Slavic  nobles,  who  have  in  recent 
times  exhibited  a  sensitiveness  to  humani- 
tarian conceptions  second  to  none  on  the 
continent.  They  look  upon  the  peasant  as 
a  brother  and  have  few  of  the  frailties  of 
aristocrats.  A  noble's  fortune  is  no  longer 
computed  by  the  number  of  his  serfs. 
Priests  and  nobles  no  longer  receive  cruel 
corporal  punishment  with  whips  because  of 
delinquencies.  In  1771,  Archbishop  Am- 
brose was  massacred  in  Moscow  for  attempt- 
ing to  enforce  sanitary  measures  during  a 
plague ;  in  St.  Petersburg,  about  the  middle 
of  the  last  century,  a  mob  pelted  the  Metro- 
politan with  missiles,  and  threw  the  doctors 
out  of  the  windows  of  the  hospital  because 
331 


THE    SLAVS 


they  suspected  them  of  poisoning  tlie  wells ; 
to-day  sanitary  measures  are  instituted 
according  to  modern  scientific  principles; 
the  hospitals  have  on  their  statfs  some  of 
the  leading  scientists  of  the  world ;  and  the 
masses  gather  in  people's  palaces,  where 
weak  tea  and  free  entertainments  are  fur- 
nished. A  century  ago  the  papers  of  Mos- 
cow advertised  serfs  for  sale,  and  a  Russian 
who  evinced  any  desire  for  travel  was  re- 
garded with  suspicion;  to-day,  the  Moscow 
press  advertises  free  land  for  peasants  and 
Russians  travel  extensively.  Fifty  years 
ago  only  two  per  cent,  of  the  peasants  who 
joined  the  army  could  read;  now  33  per 
cent,  of  them  can  do  so.  Forty  years  ago, 
two-thirds  of  the  people  of  Russia  had  no 
rights  which  they  could  enforce  against 
their  superiors,  and  justice,  when  adminis- 
tered, proclaimed  its  decrees  from  behind 
(•los<'d  doors.  Now,  tlie  proceedings  of  the 
tribunals  are  public,  criminal  cases  are  tried 
332 


THE    SLAVS 


by  jury,  petty  cases  are  tried  by  Justices  of 
the  Peace,  and  the  course  of  justice  is  sim- 
plified to  meet  the  demands  of  the  people. 
Frederick  the  Great  said  of  the  Russian 
soldiers,  "We  have  to  do  with  barbarians, 
who  are  digging  the  grave  of  humanity." 
A  century  later.  General  Skobeleff,  in  the 
war  of  Bulgaria,  had  to  command  a  halt 
and  furnish  carts  and  men  to  care  for  the 
babes  who  were  thrown  away  by  their  Turk- 
ish mothers  and  picked  up  by  the  Russian 
soldiers  as  they  pursued  the  foe.  These  are 
landmarks  of  progress. 

The  Slav  soldier  is  still  capable  of  wield- 
ing the  sword  with  the  ferocity  of  a  Jeph- 
thah  or  a  Gideon,  but  it  is  on  the  principle 
that  it  is  better  to  cut  off  the  hand  and  the 
foot  than  have  the  whole  body  cast  into  hell. 
When  Skobeleff  sheathed  his  sword,  in 
Central  Asia,  peace,  order,  and  safety  were 
established,  but  previous  to  the  advent  of 
the  Russian  tumult,  anarchy  and  terrorism 
333 


THE    SLAVS 


prevailed.  Under  the  wise  guidance  of  pa- 
triotic statesmen  the  accursed  vodka  shops — 
the  breeders  of  drunkenness  and  poverty — 
are  regulated,  and  the  peasants  are  provided 
with  tea  houses  where  the  social  instinct  of 
the  Slav  is  met.  In  no  European  state  are 
there  more  comprehensive  laws  relative  to 
employers'  liability  than  in  Russia,  while 
many  of  the  States  of  the  Union  can  well 
afford  to  learn  of  Slav  statesmen  how  to 
regulate  factories  where  children  are  sacri- 
ficed both  day  and  night  upon  the  altar  of 
mammonism.  The  railroads  of  Manchuria 
and  the  Caucasus  have  broken  down  the 
barbarous  custom  of  collecting  transporta- 
tion taxes  which  rendered  commerce  in  the 
interior  of  Asia  and  China  impossible.  Un- 
der the  Slavs'  supervision  good  roads  are 
made  and  model  towns  are  built  where  for- 
merly barbarous  communities  dwelt  in  filth. 
Wherever  the  Slav  builds  he  guards  against 
disease,  squalor,  and  unsightliness,  which 
334 


THE    SLAVS 


are  common  occurrences  where  Mongols  and 
Tartars  dwell.  The  Slav  peasant  is  slowly 
awakening  to  a  realization  of  his  independ- 
ence, to  a  due  appreciation  of  economic 
freedom,  to  an  understanding  of  the  rights 
of  property,  and  to  the  market  value  of  in- 
dustry, temperance,  and  truthfulness.  Slav 
statesmen  proclaim  the  commercial  value 
of  honesty,  the  necessity  of  enterprise  in 
manufacturing  industries  and  commerce, 
the  worth  of  new  methods  in  production, 
and  the  markets  which  await  the  production 
of  farms  and  factories.  All  the  lessons 
which  industrial  liberty  teaches,  all  the 
blessings  which  science  and  art  bring,  all 
the  results  which  centuries  of  civilization 
realize,  are  brought  to  the  feet  of  this  youth 
in  whose  heart  are  stored  the  energies  of 
centuries  of  stolid  living.  Give  him  time, 
and  the  pressure  of  new  wants  and  new 
ideas  will  awaken  his  sleepy  brain  and  set 
in  motion  his  sluggish  nerves  and  effect  a 
335 


THE    SLAVS 


metamorphosis  which  the  combined  wisdom 
of  philosophers  and  theorists  cannot  effect. 
Lobenoff  changed  the  face  of  Europe  in  an 
incredibly  short  time;  the  foreign  states- 
manship of  Russia  in  far-sightedness  is  not 
surpassed  by  that  of  any  other  modern  na- 
tion; the  Slav  has  developed  a  diplomacy 
which  equals  in  skill  and  resource  that  of 
any  other  people  of  ancient  or  modern 
times;  and  when  the  Slav  peasant  fully 
awakes  to  the  demands  of  modern  life,  he 
will  go  forth  with  singing  and  "come  again 
with  joy,  bringing  his  sheaves  with  him." 
Let  another  Peter  the  Great  arise  to  lead 
these  100,000,000  Slavs,  strong  in  their 
youthful  vigor,  confident  that  they  have  a 
mission  to  fulfil,  and  what  obstacles  can 
stand  before  their  onward  march?  If  they 
arm  themselves  for  battle  their  armies  will 
shake  two  continents,  and  the  Slavophobs' 
worst  fears  will  be  realized.  If  they  seek  a 
higher  victory — "the  victory  of  Science, 
336 


THE    SLAVS 


Art,  and  Faith" — the  dream  of  the  Slavo- 
philes in  part  may  be  realized,  viz.,  that  the 
Slav  will  restore  the  world,  demoralized  by 
atheism  in  religion  and  anarchy  in  govern- 
ment, to  sanity,  faith,  and  order. 


337 


RELIGIOUS   SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 


RELIGIOUS   SECTS   IN  RUSSIA. 
Isaac  A.  Hourwich 

I. 

Two  events  occurring  in  the  year  1903 
fastened  the  eyes  of  the  civilized  world 
upon  Russia :  the  Czar's  manifesto  of  Feb- 
ruary 26th  (March  11th),  on  religious  toler- 
ance, and  a  few  weeks  later,  the  massacre  of 
the  Jews  at  Kishinyov  on  Easter  Sunday 
and  Monday. 

In  the  preamble  to  the  manifesto  the  Czar 
declared  his  "holy  vow  *  *  *  to  guard  the 
ancient  foundations  of  the  Russian  state," 
as  well  as  his  "inflexible  determination  to 
satisfy  without  further  delay  the  matured 
needs  of  the  state."  First  in  order  of  enu- 
meration was  the  need  "to  secure,  in  matters 
pertaining  to  religion,  strict  observance,  by 
the  authorities,  of  the  mandates  of  tolerance 
inscribed  in  the  fundamental  laws  of  the 
341 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 


Russian  Empire,  which,  devoutly  respect- 
ing the  Orthodox  Church  as  supreme  and 
dominant,  grant  to  all  our  subjects  of 
heterodox  and  non-Christian  denominations 
the  freedom  of  observing  their  faith  and 
worshipping  in  accordance  with  the  rites 
thereof." 

This  solemn  announcement  of  the  Czar's 
"inflexible  determination"  to  secure  for  his 
subjects  the  enjoyment  of  privileges  "in- 
scribed in  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  em- 
pire" admits,  by  implication,  that  "the  man- 
dates of  tolerance"  have  not  always  been 
respected  by  the  authorities.  The  need  had 
matured  for  strict  observance  of  the  law  by 
the  officers  of  the  law,  and  must  be  "satisfied 
without  further  delay."  The  Kishinyov 
massacre  emphasized  the  point. 

Religious   tolerance   is   an   elastic   term. 

As  interpreted  by  the  Czar's  manifesto,  its 

scope  is  confined  to  freedom  of  worship,  a 

strict  construction  unquestionably  in  accord 

342 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN   RUSSIA 

both  with  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  funda- 
mental laws  as  they  are.  No  innovations 
are  contemplated  by  the  manifesto,  which 
vows  "to  guard  the  ancient  foundations  of 
the  Russian  state." 

What  is  meant  by  religious  tolerance,  ac- 
cording to  the  laws  of  the  Russian  Empire, 
is  thus  laid  down  by  the  late  Professor  Gra- 
dovsky,  of  the  Imperial  University  of  St. 
Petersburg,  an  eminent  authority  on  Rus- 
sian public  law : 

The  full  scope  of  freedom  of  conscience  or  re- 
ligious faith  embraces  the  following  tests  :  (a)  the 
freedom  of  public  worship  in  accordance  with  the 
rites  of  one's  creed  ;  {b)  the  freedom  of  choosing  a 
creed ;  (c)  the  freedom  of  preaching,  with  the  pur- 
pose of  converting  persons  belonging  to  other  de- 
nominations, as  well  as  of  founding  a  new  church  ; 
(d)  the  full  enjoyment  of  political  and  civil  rights 
by  all  persons  regardless  of  church  affiliation. 

The  rules  of  religious  tolerance,  as  expressed 
in  the  Kussian  law,  are  substantially  confined  to 
the  freedom  of  worship.^ 

(')  A.  Qrsbdovsky,  Elements  of  Ricssian  Public  Law, 
vol.  i.,  pp.  373,  376. 

343 


EELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

But  even  in  this  narrow  sense  religious 
tolerance  in  Russia  is  subject  to  very  ma- 
terial limitations. 

About  one-third  of  the  population  of  the 
Russian  empire  are  not  affiliated  with  the 
Orthodox  Greek-Catholic  Church.  The  law 
divides  the  forty-five  million  heterodox  and 
non-Christian  subjects  of  the  Czar  into  two 
classes:  (1)  "foreign  denominations,"  and 
(2)  "heresies  and  schisms."  The  former,  as 
the  term  denotes,  represent  bodies  of  citi- 
zens of  foreign  descent  added  to  the  popula- 
tion of  the  empire  chiefly  through  territorial 
expansion,  and  to  some  extent  through  im- 
migration. "Heresies  and  schisms"  are 
religious  divisions  which  have  grown  up 
within  the  Orthodox  Church  itself.  Where- 
as "heresies  and  schisms"  remain  to  this 
day  within  the  purview  of  the  criminal  law, 
sound  statesmanship  has  from  the  earliest 
times  enjoined  towards  "foreign  denomina- 
tions" a  degree  of  tolerance  varying  with 
344 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

the  circumstances  under  which  each  of  them 
came  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  expand- 
ing Russian  state. 

By  the  ukase  of  Empress  Anne  (Febru- 
ary 22,  1735),  which  is  still  the  law,  relig- 
ious tolerance  is  defined  to  mean  merely 
freedom  of  worship,  but  not  the  freedom 
of  preaching  for  the  purpose  of  making 
converts  among  Russian  subjects,  which  is 
prohibited  under  severe  penalties.  Inas- 
much as  the  established  church  is  a  part  of 
the  state,  the  power  of  the  state  is  strength- 
ened by  the  growth  of  the  Orthodox  Church. 
Other  denominations  may  hold  their  own, 
but  all  missionary  work  is  the  exclusive 
prerogative  of  the  established  church.  Eng- 
lish missionaries,  who,  during  the  reign  of 
Alexander  11.,  endeavored  to  preach  the 
gospel  among  the  heathen  natives  of  East- 
ern Siberia,  were  promptly  ordered  out  of 
the  Empire. 

Until  the  Polish  insurrection  of  1863  the. 
345 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

Koman  Catholic  Church  enjoyed  the  same 
privileges  as  all  other  foreign  Christian  de- 
nominations, but  the  leading  part  taken  by 
the  Eoman  Catholic  clergy  in  the  struggles 
of  the  Polish  people  for  national  inde- 
pendence called  forth  vigorous  measures 
of  reprisal  from  the  Russian  government. 
Churches  were  closed  and  church  edifices 
converted  into  barracks  and  stables. 

An  incident  in  this  repressive  policy  is 
the  "conversion"  of  the  Uniats.  The  Uniat, 
or  United  Greek  Church,  is  a  branch  of  the 
Eastern  Church,  which  accepts  the  suprem- 
acy of  the  Pope  though  in  all  other  respects 
adhering  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Greek-Cath- 
olic Church.  The  Uniat  Church  embraced 
a  large  portion  of  the  White  Russian  peo- 
]>le,  of  the  former  Grand  Duchy  of  Lithu- 
ania. In  order  to  wrest  the  White  Russians 
from  Polish  influence,  it  was  deemed  im- 
perative to  "reunite"  them  to  the  established 
cliurch.  Missionaries  were  sent  out  among 
346 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

the  Uniats,  and  wherever  persuasion  failed 
of  effect  were  reinforced  by  the  police  and 
the  military.  Uniat  priests  who  objected  to 
joining  the  established  church  were  impris- 
oned and  banished;  their  churches  were 
placed  in  charge  of  orthodox  priests,  their 
parishes  were  officially  declared  "reunited,'' 
with  the  result  that  those  who  persisted  in 
their  allegiance  to  the  church  in  which  they 
were  raised  were  treated  by  the  law  as 
"apostates"  from  Orthodoxy. 

n. 

Among  the  "foreign  denominations"  are 
numbered  also  the  Jews,  whose  settlement 
in  some  parts  of  the  Russian  Empire  is  con- 
temporaneous with,  or  even  antedates,  the 
appearance  of  the  Russian  people  itself  on 
the  stage  of  history.  In  the  Ipatievsky 
Clironicle,  dating  as  far  back  as  the  mid- 
dle of  the  twelfth  century,  the  Jews  are 
347 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

mentioned  as  old  residents  of  Russia.  In 
Poland  they  resided  from  time  immemorial ; 
since  the  eleventh  century  their  presence  in 
Poland  is  established  by  historical  evidence. 
In  the  kingdom  of  the  Chazars,  which  occu- 
pied the  southeast  territory  of  the  present 
European  Russia,  the  Jews  were  settled  in 
large  numbers  as  early  as  in  the  seventh 
century.  It  is  therefore  against  all  evidence 
to  class  them,  as  is  done  in  some  quarters, 
with  the  "foreign"  elements  of  the  popula- 
tion of  the  empire.  As  well  might  the  de- 
scendants of  the  Norman  conquerors  be 
classed  to-day  among  the  foreign  popula- 
tion of  Great  Britain. 

So  much  is  true,  however,  that  there  was 
no  Jewish  population  within  the  boundaries 
of  the  Muscovite  state.  The  federation  of 
southwestern  principalities  which  centred 
around  the  capital  city  of  Kiev, — the  cradle 
of  the  Russian  nation,— had,  through  the 
vicissitudes  of  histor}',  become  incori)orated 
348 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

in  the  Polish  commonwealth,  and  it  was  only 
with  the  partition  of  Poland  that  the  Rus- 
sian Empire  came  into  possession  of  the 
bulk  of  its  Jewish  population. 

The  old  Muscovite  attitude  toward  the 
Jews  was  expressed  by  Empress  Elizabeth 
in  1743,  when  the  Senate  represented  to  her 
that  the  enforcement  of  the  law  directing  the 
expulsion  of  Jewish  merchants  from  Rus- 
sian fairs  affected  injuriously  the  fiscal 
interest.  To  this  the  Empress  rejoined, 
"From  the  enemies  of  Christ  I  desire  no 
lucrative  returns." 

The  Muscovite  law  which  shut  the  door 
against  the  Jews  could  not  be  applied  to 
new  possessions  thickly  settled  with  Jews. 
But  while  the  imperial  government  could 
not  order  the  depopulation  of  the  cities  and 
towns  in  the  newly  acquired  provinces,  it 
"guarded  the  ancient  foundations  of  the 
state"  in  so  far  as  it  excluded  the  Jews,  as 
before,  from  the  original  Muscovite  terri- 
349 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

tory,  merely  leaving  them  where  it  had 
found  them.  Thus  the  "pale  of  settlement" 
was  created,  by  that  name  the  law  describ- 
ing the  limited  area  within  which  the  Jews 
were  permitted  to  reside.  The  boundaries 
have  undergone  many  changes,  at  first  being 
widened,  then  again  narrowed  down.  Wlien- 
ever  a  province  or  a  city,  formerly  within 
the  pale,  was  excluded,  thousands  of  Jewish 
settlers  were  ordered  out  of  the  forbidden 
territory.  The  latest  expulsions  took  place 
during  the  reign  of  Alexander  III. 

The  Jewish  riots  of  1881  and  1882  cre- 
ated a  public  sentiment  in  Russia  extremely 
hostile  to  Jews,  and  the  sentiment  was 
given  official  expression  in  the  "Provisional 
Rules"  of  May  3-15,  1881,  which  prohibited 
the  Jews  from  settling  and  accjuiring  real 
estate  outside  of  cities  and  towns  of  the  pale 
of  settlement.  Though  the  law  on  the  face 
of  it  had  no  retroactive  ])ower,  yet  in  prac- 
tice it  resulted  in  the  gradual  expulsion  of 
350 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 


about  one-fifth  of  the  Jewish  population 
from  their  places  of  residence.  Many  of 
these  rural  Jews  were  lessees  of  farms  and 
flour  mills,  with  leases  that  could  not  be  re- 
newed when  their  terms  expired.  Thus 
scores  of  tenants  were  forced  to  quit  the 
land  upon  which  they  and  their  fathers  had 
been  born  and  raised.  In  1889  the  cities  of 
Taganrog  and  Rostov  on  the  Don  were  ex- 
cluded from  the  pale.  Such  of  the  Jewish 
residents  as  were  enrolled  as  burghers  of 
those  cities  were  not  molested,  but  all  those 
enrolled  elsewhere  and  residing  in  Rostov 
or  Taganrog  on  passports  were  ordered 
within  six  months  to  wind  up  their  busi- 
nesses and  go.  In  1891  the  Jews  of  Moscow 
were  similarly  ordered  to  depart  within  not 
more  than  six  months,  a  time  considered  by 
the  government  ample  for  the  closing  up  of 
their  business  matters. 

Step  by  step,  the  civil  and  political  rights 
of    the    Jews    were    materially    curtailed. 
351 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

Jews  are  practically  debarred  now  from 
holding  public  office  or  positions  in  the  civil 
service;  only  limited  numbers  of  Jewish 
children  are  admitted  to  the  public  schools, 
and  few  private  schools  for  Jews  are 
licensed.  Local  authorities  have  gone  to 
great  lengths  in  widening  the  scope  of  the 
retroactive  regulations  beyond  the  limits 
originally  contemplated  by  the  central  gov- 
ernment. Whenever  appeal  has  been  taken 
to  the  Senate,  the  local  authorities  have  in- 
variably been  reversed.*  But  appeals  are 
slow  and  costly,  and  in  most  cases  the  rul- 
ings of  the  local  authorities  stand.     More- 

(')  The  Senate  is  a  judicial  body  divided  into  sev- 
eral departiiu'nts.  The  First  Departjnent,  which  has 
jurisdiction  of  all  aj)i)eals  from  the  rulings  of  the 
axhiiiuistration,  has  an  honorable  record  as  a  strict 
ii{)holder  of  the  law  and  of  the  rit:;hts  of  citizens. 
Tlie  Criminal  Cassation  Department,  which  is  a 
court  of  error  in  criminal  cases,  has,  on  the  contrary, 
suited  its  interpretation  of  the  law  to  the  i)oIici(>s  of 
the  ffovernment.  It  is  a  familiar  maxim  anions;  the 
lethal  pntfession  in  Russia  tlint  "  there  arc  no  reversi- 
ble errors  for  a  Jew.  " 

352 


EELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN   RUSSIA 

over  the  decisions  of  the  Senate  on  appeal 
are  not  regarded  by  the  administration  as 
precedents,  but  merely  as  orders  in  particu- 
lar cases.  The  Provincial  Board  of  Bessa- 
rabia went  so  far  as  to  disregard  the  deci- 
sions of  the  Senate  even  in  those  cases 
where  its  rulings  were  appealed  from  and 
reversed. 

The  Kishinyov  massacre  revealed  to  the 
outside  world  the  fact  that  the  representa- 
tives of  government  authority  were  capa- 
ble of  denying  to  Jews  the  protection  of 
the  law  when  lives  and  property  and  the 
honor  of  their  women  were  attacked  by  a 
riotous  mob.  It  is,  perhaps,  not  as  well 
known  that  the  conduct  of  the  authorities  at 
Kishinyov  was  in  no  way  exceptional.  The 
commission,  with  Count  Palen  as  chairman, 
appointed  by  the  government  to  infjuire  into 
the  causes  of  the  frequent  anti-Jewish  riots 
during  the  reign  of  Alexander  III.,  said  in 
its  report : 

353 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN   RUSSIA 

It  is  beyond  any  doubt  that,  in  most  cases  where 
the  riots  assumed  especially  grave  dimensions, 
their  growth  was  caused  by  the  inadequacy  or 
weakness  of  the  measures  adopted  by  the  police. 
When  police  supervision  was  made  more  efficient 
and  the  administration  was  made  responsible  for 
anti-Jewish  outbreaks,  the  latter  did  not  recur, 
or  were  nipped  in  the  bud. 

In  a  strictly  centralized  autocratic  gov- 
ernment, like  that  of  Russia,  local  officers 
of  the  administration  seek  to  anticipate  the 
wishes  of  the  central  government;  the  mo- 
ment the  latter  announced  its  intention  to 
hold  all  officials  responsible  for  laxity  in 
dealing  with  anti-Jewish  riots,  rioting 
ceased.  Apparently,  i)rior  to  that  an- 
nouncement, there  had  been  something  in 
the  attitude  of  the  central  government  to 
create  the  belief  among  local  authorities 
that  they  would  not  be  held  liable  for  inac- 
tion. In  the  light  of  earlier  events  the  in- 
action of  the  Kishinyov  authorities  is  trace- 
able to  the  same  cause,  namely,  the  feeling 
354 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN   RUSSIA 

that  the  government  at  St.  Petersburg 
would  hold  the  local  authorities  blameless. 

That  the  policy  of  the  government  tow- 
ards the  Jews  is  dictated  by  religious  mo- 
tives is  officially  denied,  and  with  certain 
qualifications  the  denial  may  be  accepted. 
The  college-bred  class  from  among  whom 
the  officers  of  the  government  are  selected 
are  notoriously  indifferent  in  matters  of 
religion.  The  high  dignitary  in  Tolstoi's 
"Resurrection"  who  vicariously  represents 
the  Czar  as  the  head  of  the  church,  though 
without  any  religion  himself,  is  not  over- 
drawn. Like  the  aristocratic  infidels  in 
France  before  the  Revolution,  the  Russian 
official  of  that  type  regards  the  established 
church  as  a  part  of  the  police  machinery  of 
the  state.  Tolerance  towards  Protestants 
and  Mohammedans,  persecution  of  Roman 
Catholics  and  Jews,  are  purely  political 
matters. 

In  the  discussion  of  the  Jewish  question, 
355 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

following  the  Kisliinyov  massacre,  it  was 
given  out  by  the  Russian  Ambassador  at 
Washington  that  the  cause  of  the  hatred 
against  the  Jew  in  Russia  was  "Jewish  ex- 
ploitation." Shirking  the  labor  of  the 
farmer,  the  Jew  is  said  to  be  a  natural  born 
banker;  as  soon  as  he  has  accunmlated  two 
dollars  he  invests  his  capital  by  loaning  it 
at  usurious  interest  to  his  peasant  neighbor. 
Hence  the  frequent  anti-Jewish  riots  are 
outbreaks  of  the  hatred  of  the  debtor  class 
against  the  creditor.  The  legal  discrimina- 
tion against  the  Jew  is  intended  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  poor  peasant  against  "Jewish 
exploitation." 

The  opinion  is  noteworthy  in  that  it 
shows  the  unconscious  effect  of  socialistic 
proi)aganda  upon  the  official  Russian  mind. 
The  term  "exploitation"  in  a  vituperative 
sense  has  come  into  the  Russian  vocabulary 
from  the  writings  of  the  socialists.  From 
the  socialistic  i)()iiit  of  view  labor  is  the  sole 
356 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

creator  of  value;  any  income  not  produced 
by  the  labor  of  its  recipient  is  in  the  last 
resort  surplus  value,  the  result  of  "exploita- 
tion" of  labor  by  capital.  In  the  crude 
"populist"  interpretation  of  this  theory  by 
the  discii^les  of  Michael  Bakounine,  agri- 
cultural labor  was  substituted  for  labor  in 
general.  These  ideas  have  permeated  the 
whole  Russian  periodical  press,  and  the 
government,  while  banishing  the  populists 
and  socialists  to  Siberia,  has  itself  adopted 
their  views  in  dealing  with  "Jewish  exploi- 
tation." The  tendency  found  expression  in 
the  "Provisional  Rules"  of  May  3-15,  1881, 
which"  resulted  in  the  expulsion  of  Jews 
from  the  rural  districts. 

From  the  standpoint  of  Russian  state- 
craft, the  anti-Jewish  policy  was  a  signal 
success.  It  earned  the  approval  of  a  por- 
tion of  the  populists ;  it  turned  the  sentiment 
among  the  university  students  from  radical- 
ism to  Judeophobia,  thus  causing  division 
357 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

in  the  most  turbulent  portion  of  the  educated 
classes.  The  most  influential  populist  peri- 
odicals and  newspapers,  committed  to  the 
theory  of  equal  rights,  were  reluctant  to  ap- 
prove the  policy  of  discrimination  against 
the  Jews,  neither  could  they  espouse  the 
cause  of  the  "exploiters"  of  the  people; 
and  so  they  maintained  a  dignified  silence, 
though  some  publications  of  the  same  per- 
suasion openly  sided  with  the  government 
on  the  Jewish  question. 

Within  the  last  few  years,  however,  a  re- 
vulsion of  sentiment  has  set  in.  The  rapid 
spread  of  the  social  democratic  and  labor 
movement  throughout  Ivussia,  especially 
among  the  Jewish  workingmen,  has  created 
a  strong  public  opinion  opposed  to  religious 
or  race  discrimination.  On  the  other  hand, 
disaffection  is  beginning  to  spread  from  the 
cities  to  the  rural  districts.  In  the  spring 
of  1902,  as  a  result  of  bad  crops,  serious 
disturbances  of  an  agrarian  character  broke 
358 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

out  over  a  wide  area  of  Southern  Russia. 
Driven  by  starvation  the  peasants  of  sev- 
eral counties  broke  open  the  barns  of  the 
landlords  and  divided  among  themselves  the 
grain  stored  there.  In  a  few  cases  the  build- 
ings were  demolished  or  burned  down. 

Precisely  as  the  anti-Jewish  riots  of  a 
generation  ago  followed  close  after  the  as- 
sassination of  Alexander  II.,  which  marked 
the  culmination  of  the  revolutionary  move- 
ment of  those  days,  so  did  the  Kishinyov 
massacre  come  very  opi)ortunely  at  a  time 
when  the  socialistic  agitation  among  all 
classes  of  the  people  had  become  a  serious 
menace  to  the  safety  of  the  autocratic  gov- 
ernment. The  anti-Semitic  journal,  Bcss- 
arabetz,  which  had  on  its  editorial  staff 
the  vice-governor  of  Kishinyov,  wrote  im- 
mediately after  the  massacre  that  "it  was 
the  answer  of  the  Christian  people  to  the 
socialistic  agitation  of  the  Jews."  In  a  few 
instances  the  local  authorities,  when  re- 
359 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

quested  by  committees  of  Jewish  citizens  to 
take  steps  for  the  prevention  of  rumored 
recurrences  of  the  anti-Jewish  riots,  de- 
manded, as  the  condition  of  their  giving 
protection  to  Jewish  women  and  children, 
that  leading  citizens  among  the  Jews  should 
induce  their  co-religionists  to  refrain  from 
taking  part  in  revolutionary  demonstra- 
tions. The  effect  of  these  official  utterances, 
by  arraying  racial  solidarity  against  polit- 
ical sympathies,  has  been  to  bring  division 
into  the  midst  of  the  Jews  themselves.  Rus- 
sian journals  published  outside  the  domin- 
ions of  the  Russian  censor  have  reported  a 
few  cases  of  Jewish  socialist  agitators  hav- 
ing been  delivered  by  their  co-religionists 
into  the  hands  of  the  police. 

The  massacre  at  Kishinyov  must,  on  the 
other  hand,  have  acted  like  a  damper  on 
many  advocates  of  popular  government  in 
Russia.  If  the  people  are  yet  so  low  mor- 
ally as  to  find  a  fiendish  delight  in  inflicting 
360 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

torture  upon  defenceless  women  and  babes, 
how  can  they  be  entrusted  with  the  privilege 
of  governing  themselves? 

That  the  effect  of  the  Kishinyov  massacre 
has  been  to  strengthen  the  stability  of  the 
autocratic  government,  is  taken  by  the  Rus- 
sian opposition  of  all  shades  of  opinion  as 
proof  of  connivance  at  the  rioting  on  the 
part  of  the  ministry  of  the  interior.  A 
friendly  foreign  public,  having  no  grievance 
of  its  own  against  the  Russian  government, 
may  give  it  the  benefit  of  the  doubt.  Let 
us  rather  consider  what  steps  have  since 
been  taken  to  prevent  the  recurrence  of  such 
outrages. 

By  order  of  the  Emperor,  governors  and 
chiefs  of  police  were  reminded,  through  the 
Minister  of  the  Interior,  that  "it  was  in- 
cumbent upon  them,  under  their  personal 
responsibility,  to  take  all  measures  for  pre- 
venting violence  and  pacifying  the  people, 
in  order  to  remove  all  cause  of  apprehen- 
361 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

sion  among  any  portion  of  the  people  for 
their  lives  and  property,"  and  further,  "that 
no  organizations  whatever  for  self-defence 
(among  the  Jews)  could  be  tolerated." 
Where  the  governors  and  chiefs  of  police 
must  be  reminded  by  special  order  of  the 
Emperor  that  it  is  their  duty  to  prevent 
violence  and  preserve  peace,  the  situation  is 
certainly  abnormal.  Under  such  circum- 
stances, to  forbid  organizing  for  self-de- 
fence, when  life  and  property  and  honor  are 
threatened,  is  at  best  to  subordinate  the 
safety  of  the  Jewish  people  to  the  integrity 
of  the  Russian  police  state.  The  Minister 
of  the  Interior  has  merely  reaffirmed  a  fun- 
damental theory  of  Russian  public  law,  that 
any  military  organization  of  citizens,  for 
whatever  purpose,  is  incom])atible  with  au- 
tocratic government. 

Still,   the   fact  must  not  be   overlooked 
that,  although  the  motive  of  all  legal  dis- 
criminations against  the  Jews  is  political, 
362 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

it  assumes  the  guise  of  religious  intolerance. 
The  test  of  a  Jew,  as  defined  by  the  law,  is 
not  racial,  but  religious.^  A  baptized  Jew 
is  no  longer  treated  by  the  law  as  a  Jew. 
Even  so  extreme  an  anti-Semite  as  the  edi- 
tor of  the  Bessarabetz,  while  warning  the 
Jews  to  quit  Russia  within  one  year  for 
their  own  good,  proposes  to  them  as  an 
alternative  that  they  "become  Christians 
and  our  brethren"  and  stay  at  Kishinyov, 
presumably  with  the  privilege  of  "exploit- 
ing" their  brethren  in  Christ. 

III. 

K  The  degree  of  tolerance  accorded  by  the 
fundamental  law  to  "foreign  denomina- 
tions" does  not  include  the  vast  class  of 
dissenters  from  the  national  church  coming 
under  the  head  of  "heresies  and  schisms." 

(')  Decisions  of  the  First  Department  of  the  Senate, 
1889,  No.  25. 

363 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN   RUSSIA 

The  report  of  the  Procurator  of  the  Holy 
Synod  for  the  years  1894  and  1895  esti- 
mated the  membership  of  these  sects  at 
thirteen  millions.  Students  of  the  religious 
movements  among  the  Russian  people  place 
the  number  nearer  twenty  millions. 

Reform  tendencies  in  the  Russian  Church 
date  as  far  back  as  the  fifteenth  century, 
which  was  marked  by  a  widespread  interest 
in  religious  and  j)hilosophical  questions  in 
the  famous  Hanse  town  of  Novgorod  and 
the  city-republic  of  Pskov,  then  the  centres 
of  Russian  civilization.  The  reduction  of 
these  republics  to  the  condition  of  provinces 
of  the  Muscovite  state  put  an  end  to  that 
early  movement  for  religious  reform  which, 
for  a  brief  time,  however,  seemed  to  have 
conquered  the  conquerors. 

About  1471,  a  learned  Jew,  Zacharias  of 
Kiev,  was  brought  to  Novgorod  among  the 
attendants  of  the  newly  elected  Prince  Mi- 
chael Olelkovich.  Zacharias  laid  the  foun- 
364 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

dation  of  the  heresy  of  the  Judaizing,  a 
rationalist  sect  which  very  rapidly  gained 
adherents  among  both  clergy  and  laity. 
The  Muscovite  Grand  Duke  John  III.,  on 
visiting  Novgorod,  called  to  his  court  two 
Novgorod  priests  identified  with  the  new  re- 
ligious movement.  They  fervently  applied 
themselves  to  preaching  the  new  doctrine 
and  gained  many  converts  among  the  clergy 
and  the  courtiers.  The  Grand  Duke  himself 
was  favorably  inclined  towards  them  and 
lent  his  influence  to  elevate  one  of  the  new 
teachers  to  the  see  of  Metropolitan  of  Mos- 
cow. But  the  orthodox  party  was  too  strong 
for  these  early  pioneers  of  reform,  and  soon 
regained  its  ascendency.  In  1504  the  teach- 
ers of  the  Judaizing  were  tried  for  heresy, 
and  sentenced,  some  to  be  burned  at  the 
stake,  others  to  have  their  tongues  cut  out ; 
many  were  imprisoned  in  convents  or  ban- 
ished, and  the  incipient  movement  for  re- 
ligious reform  was  stopped. 
365 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 


The  ignorance  of  the  clergy,  as  dense  as 
that  of  the  people,^  insured  for  generations 
to  come  the  unity  of  the  Orthodox  Church 
against  division  bred  by  the  spirit  of  in- 
quiry. With  the  first  beginnings  of  educa- 
tion among  the  clergy,  its  ritualism,  im- 
pregnable in  its  adherence  to  tradition,  was 
bound  to  crumble  under  its  own  weight. 
Through  the  ignorance  of  clerical  scribes 
many  errors  kept  creeping  into  the  liturgy 
and  prayer-books  of  the  Russian  church. 
A  revision  was  attempted  early  in  the  sev- 
enteenth century  under  the  direction  of  a 
learned  Greek,  who  unfortunately  was  not 
familiar  with  the  Slav  language  used  in  the 
church,  whereas  his  assistants  had  no 
knowledge  of  Greek.  The  revision  was  as 
defective  as  the  old  books,  and  a  coiiiinis- 
sion  was  sent  to  the  Orient,  that  fountain 
of  tradition.  A  vast  collection  of  ancient 
manuscripts  was  secured  ard  ])rouglit  to 
Moscow.  Jealousy  naturally  si)raug  up  be- 
366 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 


tween  the  revisers  and  the  new  commission. 
To  settle  the  controversy,  a  church  council 
was  held  at  Moscow  in  1654,  presided  over 
by  the  Russian  Patriarch,  Nikon,  and  at- 
tended by  the  Patriarchs  of  Antioch  and 
Servia,  the  changes  recommended  by  the 
commission  being  approved  in  accord  with 
the  ritual  adopted  in  the  Oriental  churches. 
This  decision  was  the  signal  for  a  great 
schism.  A  large  faction  among  the  clergy 
refused  to  accept  the  innovations  and  re- 
mained faithful  to  the  "old  ritual."  Perse- 
cution of  the  opposition  widened  the  breach. 
The  Orthodox  Church  was  denounced  as 
"the  nest  of  Antichrist,"  and  the  Czar  was 
bitterly  arraigned  for  having  allied  hunself 
to  the  heretics  and  persecutors  of  the  true 
orthodoxy. 

Persecution  of  the  "schismatics"  grew  in 
severity,  and  in  1681  their  leader,  Proto- 
pope  Awacum,  witli  a  number  of  his  dis- 
ciples, was  burned  at  the  stake.    Unlike  the 
367 


EELiaiOUS    SECTS    IN   RUSSIA 

movement  of  the  Judaizing,  the  great  schism 
of  the  old  ritualists  could  not  be  killed  with 
its  leaders,  for  it  drew  its  strength  from  a 
deep-seated  discontent  in  church  and  state. 
The  Patriarch  Nikon  was  a  representative 
of  that  type  of  man  who,  in  another  en- 
vironment, might  have  been  a  military 
dictator,  like  Napoleon,  a  political  boss,  or 
a  captain  of  industry.  His  domineering 
character  and  centralizing  tendencies  an- 
tagonized many  among  the  lower  clergy, 
and  the  "old  ritual"  merely  proved  a  con- 
venient issue  to  bring  together  all  those  who 
instinctively  inclined  towards  a  democratic 
organization  of  the  church. 

The  state  having  espoused  the  cause  of 
the  dominant  church,  drew  upon  itself  the 
enmity  of  the  leaders  of  the  schism.  Oppo- 
sition to  the  church  developed  into  opposi- 
tion to  the  state;  the  "old  ritualist"  clergy 
became  tlie  natural  leaders  of  all  the  dis- 
contented in  the  realm.  The  reforms  of 
368 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

Peter  the  Great  taxed  all  the  resources  of 
the  nation.  The  introduction  of  a  standing 
army;  the  extension  of  serfdom  to  provide 
laborers  for  state  mines,  mills,  and  facto- 
ries; stringent  anti-vagrancy  laws  which 
affected  the  numerous  class  of  fugitive 
serfs, — these  and  many  other  measures  of 
the  new  fiscal  policy  bred  discontent  among 
the  common  people.  On  the  other  hand, 
Peter  the  Great,  finding  the  way  of  reform 
blocked  by  the  conservatism  of  the  jDcople, 
naturally  distrusted  them.  Discarding  the 
Assembly  of  the  Commons  and  the  Council 
of  the  Boyars,  or  house  of  lords,  he  was  the 
first  Russian  Czar  to  rule  as  an  autocrat. 
While  the  Commons  had  had,  during  the 
Muscovite  period,  merely  a  consultative 
voice,  and  it  was  optional  with  the  Czar  to 
call  the  Commons  together,  custom  had  de- 
manded that  the  voice  of  the  Commons  be 
heard  on  all  matters  of  public  importance. 
Whenever  a  new  code  of  laws  was  to  be 
369 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

enacted,  the  Czar  invariably  sought  their 
advice. 

Peter  the  Great,  by  breaking  with  this  an- 
cient custom,  antagonized  all  classes  of  the 
people.  The  old  ritualists  earnestly  be- 
lieved him  to  be  the  Antichrist,  and  in  all 
revolts  against  his  reforms  were  the  mov- 
ing spirits.  The  original  controversy  over 
Hallelujah,  or  the  proper  spelling  of  the 
name  of  Christ  (whether  "Jesus"  or  "Isus") 
thus  developed  into  a  democratic,  religious, 
and  political  movement. 

Very  early  in  its  history  the  great  schism 
split  into  two  branches  over  the  question  of 
priesthood.  Since  the  i)atriarch  and  the 
bisho})s  had  abandoned  the  true  faith  and 
joined  the  "Nikonian  heresy,"  who  was  to 
ordain  new  i)riests'?  The  people  of  the 
sparsely  settled  extreme  North,  who,  owing 
to  geographical  situation  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  live  witliout  ))riests,  came  to  the 
conclusion  Hint  licnceforlli  there  could  be  no 
370 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

priesthood  in  the  true  church.  Without  a 
priest  to  administer  the  sacraments  there 
could  be  no  sacraments,  and  thus,  proceed- 
ing from  a  purel}^  ritual  controversy,  the 
"Priestless,"  as  they  were  called,  arrived 
ultimately  at  a  rationalistic  conception  of 
religion.  These,  again,  maintaining  the 
right  of  free  interpretation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, soon  split  up  into  a  number  of  ration- 
alistic sects.  The  other,  more  conservative 
branch  of  the  schism,  recognizing  priest- 
hood, preserved  its  unity,  and  after  a  long 
struggle  forced  the  state  to  grant  them  a 
degree  of  tolerance. 

Under  the  law  of  1685  the  schismatics 
were  liable  to  be  burned  at  the  stake  and 
their  property  was  subject  to  confiscation; 
those  harboring  them  were  liable  to  be  pun- 
ished by  the  knout  and  banished.  Driven 
by  persecution  the  dissenters  fled  to  the  out- 
skirts of  the  emi)ire,  a  i)Owerful  factor  in 
Russian  territorial  expansion.  The  spirit 
371 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

of  martyrdom  was  so  strong  in  tliem  that 
not  infrequently,  when  caught  by  the  au- 
thorities, they  would  burn  themselves  alive 
rather  than  surrender.  Within  the  first  five 
years  after  the  enactment  of  the  law  of 
1685  as  many  as  twenty  thousand  persons 
sacrificed  themselves  in  this  way.  In  the 
eighteenth  century  on  one  occasion  more 
than  two  thousand  y)ersons  resorted  to  this 
mode  of  self-destruction.  Gradually,  how- 
ever, a  modus  vivendi  was  established ;  the 
officers  of  the  government  soon  recognized 
the  possibilities  of  the  laws  against  the 
schism  and  made  them  a  source  of  hand- 
some revenue  for  themselves,  in  considera- 
tion of  which  immunity  was  granted  to  the 
dissenters. 

After  a  century  of  persecution  the  im- 
I)C]ial  government  realized  the  fact  that  the 
"schism"  had  come  to  stay.  By  the  ukase 
of  Peter  Hi.,  in  1762,  the  i)rivileges  ac- 
corded to  foreign  denominations  were  ex- 
372 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

tended  to  the  native  sects.  Catherine  II.,  it 
is  true,  born  a  Protestant  princess  and  con- 
verted to  orthodoxy  in  order  to  marry  the 
Russian  heir  to  the  throne,  showed  her  zeal 
by  prohibiting  the  construction  of  old  ritu- 
alistic churches.  The  old  ritualists  retali- 
ated by  taking  an  active  part  in  the  peasant 
rebellion  led  by  Poogatchov,  who,  under  the 
assumed  name  of  Peter  III.,  for  nearly  a 
year  held  half  the  empire  subject.  Perse- 
cutions were  renewed  during  the  short  reign 
of  the  insane  Paul  I.  His  successor,  Alex- 
ander I.,  educated  by  Laharpe  in  the  prin- 
ciples of  French  liberalism,  relaxed  the 
severity  of  the  law  by  granting  the  dis- 
senters the  privilege  of  private  worship ;  all 
public  manifestations  of  worship,  however, 
remaining  under  the  ban,  as  before. 

The  political  reaction  which  set  in  during 
the  latter  part  of  the  reign  of  Alexander  I., 
brought  with  it  a  recrudescence  of  the  old- 
time  intolerance.     Under  the  act  of  1824, 
373 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

backsliders  from  among  the  "converted"  old 
ritualists  were  to  be  drafted  into  the  army, 
and  women  were  to  be  banished  to  Siberia. 
As  the  alleged  "conversions"  were  never 
voluntary,  the  act  of  1824  was  virtually  a 
return  to  the  seventeenth-century  policy. 
Under  Nicholas  I.  a  systematic  campaign 
of  persecution  of  old  ritualist  worship  was 
inaugurated.  Count  Protasov,  the  Procu- 
rator of  the  Holy  Synod,  in  his  report  to 
the  Czar  in  1842,  divided  the  Russian  sects 
into  two  classes — the  "more  harmful"  and 
the  "less  harmful."  The  former  class  in- 
cluded all  "Priestless"  sects,  whose  danger 
was  manifested  in  their  democratic  spirit. 
He  recommended  that  the  "more  harmful" 
sects  should  be  dealt  with  by  the  penal  code, 
whereas  the  "less  harmful"  should  be  dis- 
couraged by  a  system  of  civil  and  i)olitical 
disabilities.  The  recommendations  were  ap- 
proved by  the  Czar.  The  old  ritualists  were 
debarred  practically  from  holding  public 
374 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

office  by  the  provision  of  tlie  law  requiring 
them  to  take  the  oath  of  office  in  accordance 
with  the  orthodox  rite.  They  were  denied 
admission  to  high  schools  and  universities. 
Their  marriages  were  not  recognized  by 
the  law  and  their  children  were  treated  as 
illegitimate.  They  were  disqualified  from 
testifying  in  civil  actions  against  members 
of  the  Orthodox  Church.  In  certain  prov- 
inces they  were  prohibited  from  buying  real 
estate.  Many  of  them  were  forbidden  to 
leave  their  domiciles.  Their  worship  was 
materially  interfered  with.  The  erection  of 
new  prayer-houses  or  the  repairing  of  old 
ones  was  prohibited;  those  which  became 
dilapidated  were  to  be  condemned  and  shut 
up  by  the  authorities,  while  the  use  of  dwell- 
ings for  prayer-rooms  was  likewise  prohib- 
ited. And,  though  thus  treated  as  an  ele- 
ment of  public  danger  at  home,  they  were 
nevertheless  not  permitted  to  emigrate  from 
Russia. 

375 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

Alexander  II.,  the  Reformer,  continued 
the  policy  of  his  father.  All  restrictive  laws 
enacted  under  Nicholas  I.  were  included  in 
the  "Revised  Statutes"  of  1857,  published 
by  the  authority  of  the  new  Czar.  The  pol- 
icy of  the  temporal  and  spiritual  powers 
was  directed,  in  official  phraseology,  tow- 
ards "the  eradication  of  schismatic  errors 
among  the  people."  As  a  concession  to  the 
spirit  of  the  times,  those  born  of  dissenter 
parents  were  not  to  be  molested,  but  all 
proselyting  was  forbidden.  One  important 
reform  was  enacted  late  in  the  reign  of 
Alexander  IL,  by  the  law  of  1874,  which 
introduced  the  institution  of  civil  marriage 
among  the  old  ritualists.  This  is  an  excep- 
tion from  the  general  law  which  regards 
marriage  as  a  sacrament  whose  legality  is 
conditioned  upon  its  celebration  by  compe- 
tent si)iritual  authority.  The  Russian  state 
will  not  recognize  the  "schism"  as  a  Chris- 
tian church,  hence  the  institution  of  civil 
376 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

marriage.  In  all  other  respects  the  condi- 
tion of  the  dissenters  throughout  the  "lib- 
eral" reign  of  Alexander  II.  remained  the 
same  as  under  the  iron  rule  of  his  father. 

IV. 

Only  in  1883  did  a  limited  degree  of  tol- 
erance come  to  be  accorded  to  the  dissenters. 
By  the  act  of  May  3,  1883,  all  their  civil 
and  political  disabilities  were  removed. 
They  were  also  permitted  to  hold  pub- 
lic worship,  provided,  however,  that  their 
prayer-houses  should  not  have  the  outward 
appearance  of  churches ;  they  must  have  no 
crosses  or  bells  to  distinguish  them. 

On  the  face  of  it  the  new  law  would  seem 
to  extend  to  the  dissenters  the  same  privi- 
leges as  those  enjoyed  by  the  Protestant 
denominations.  This  tolerance,  however,  is 
practically  nullified  by  the  law,  still  remain- 
ing in  full  force,  which  punishes  apostasy 
377 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN   RUSSIA 

from  tlie  Orthodox  Clmrcli  and  the  spread- 
ing of  "heresies  and  schisms."  ^  Only  those 
of  the  dissenters  who  were  born  of  dissenter 
parents  enjoy  the  immunity  from  persecu- 
tion granted  by  the  act  of  1883.  But  the 
bulk  of  the  membership  of  the  recent  sects, 
for  example,  the  Stundists  or  Baptists,  are 
"apostates"  from  the  Orthodox  Church. 
Under  Section  190  of  the  Penal  Code,  those 
of  them  who  bring  up  their  children  in  their 
new  faith  are  liable  to  imprisonment  for  a 
term  of  not  less  than  eight  months,  or  more 
than  sixteen  months.  Moreover,  "their  chil- 
dren are  entrusted  to  the  care  of  relatives 
of  the  orthodox  confession,  or,  in  the  ab- 
sence of  such,  to  the  care  of  guardians, 
likewise  of  the  orthodox  faith,  who  are 
appointed  for  the  purpose  by  the  govern- 
ment." 

Nor  is  this  a  dead  letter.    The  most  con- 
spicuous case  of  the  law's  being  applied  in 

(•)  Penal  Code,  Sections  189  and  196. 
378 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

all  its  severity  was  that  of  Prince  Hilkoff, 
a  relative  of  the  present  minister  of  trans- 
portation, and  a  follower  of  Tolstoi.  The 
story  of  the  separation  of  his  children  from 
their  parents  a  few  years  ago  was  told  to 
the  press  of  the  world  by  the  heartbroken 
mother.  There  are  many  such  mothers 
among  the  Russian  peasantry. 

Under  the  conditions  of  peasant  life  in- 
deed no  dissenter  can  escape  the  charge  of 
seeking  to  make  converts  among  members 
of  the  Orthodox  Church.  The  writer  once 
witnessed  the  trial  of  a  case  which  may  be 
taken  as  typical.  The  prisoner  himself  was 
a  Stundist,  but  his  son  married  an  orthodox 
girl,  and,  as  is  customary  among  Russian 
peasants,  took  her  into  his  father's  house  to 
live.  At  times  the  Stundists  of  the  village 
would  meet  for  the  reading  of  the  Bible  at 
the  old  man's  home.  An  average  peasant 
house  consists  of  a  kitchen  and  one  sitting- 
room,  so  it  was  quite  inevitable  that  the 
379 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

daughter-in-law  should  be  present  at  the 
Stundist  meetings.  This  was  enough  to 
make  out  a  complete  case  of  preaching  an 
heretical  doctrine  to  a  member  of  the  Ortho- 
dox Church.  The  old  man  was  found  guilty 
and  sentenced  to  forfeiture  of  all  civil  rights 
("civil  death")  and  banished  to  the  Trans- 
caucasian  region. 

The  effect  of  this  policy  can  be  easily 
imagined.  Persecution  has  not  prevented 
the  spread  of  religious  dissent,  but  has 
merely  brought  about  a  sort  of  natural  se- 
lection, by  which  only  the  seekers  after 
truth,  those  who  are  ready  to  suifer  for  the 
sake  of  truth,  have  joined  the  new  religious 
sects.  The  result  has  been  a  higher  moral 
tone  among  the  "sectarians"  than  is  usual 
among  the  peasantry,  complete  absence  of 
drunkenness  and  dissipation,  a  spirit  of 
mutual  helpfulness  and  co-operation,  and 
hand  in  hand  with  this  moral  and  social 
regeneration  an  imi)rovement  of  the  eco- 
380 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

nomic  condition  of  the  dissenter  peasants. 
This  object  lesson  has  been  a  more  potent 
factor  in  attracting  new  converts  than  mere 
preaching  could  be. 

The  most  "dangerous"  of  all  the  modern 
sects  is  the  SMoonda  (German  "Stunde") 
which  first  made  its  appearance  in  Southern 
Russia  soon  after  the  emancij)ation  of  the 
peasants  (1861)  and  owes  its  origin  to  the 
influence  of  German  colonists.  Its  rapid 
spread  was  due  to  the  political  and  eco- 
nomic conditions  of  the  time,  which  made 
the  more  intelligent  portion  of  the  peasantry- 
susceptible  to  influences  of  an  idealistic 
nature. 

The  peasant  reform  of  Alexander  II.,  far 
from  satisfying  the  peasantry,  became  the 
cause  of  widespread  discontent  among  them. 
Owing  to  certain  historical  causes  the  peas- 
ant's ideal  of  "freedom"  included  the  divi- 
sion of  the  land  among  the  joeasantry. 

The  peasantry  of  the  nineteenth  century 
381 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

continued  to  live  amidst  the  conditions  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  when  the  title  to  all 
lands  was  vested  in  the  sovereign  and  the 
nobility  held  their  estates  merely  for  public 
services,  subject  to  forfeiture  at  the  pleas- 
ure of  the  Czar;  on  the  other  hand,  the 
peasants  were  adscripts  to  the  land  likewise 
for  the  needs  of  the  state.  Emancipation 
from  personal  dependence  upon  the  noble- 
man was  to  the  peasant  mind  merely  a  re- 
form of  the  public  service ;  the  peasant  was 
to  serve  the  Czar  directly,  instead  of  indi- 
rectly through  a  master.  The  nobleman  was 
to  go  to  the  city  and  enter  the  civil  service 
or  the  army.  The  reform  of  Alexander  II. 
merely  abolished  the  personal  power  of  the 
nobleman  over  the  peasant ;  the  peasant  was 
given  the  alternative  of  either  accepting  an 
allotment  of  land  at  an  exorbitant  price,  or 
paying  a  tribute  to  or  performing  labor  as 
before  for  the  master.  This  unsettled  con- 
dition of  "temporary  servitude,"  as  it  was 
382 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

officially  termed,  continued  throughout  the 
reign  of  the  "Czar-Liberator,"  and  ap- 
plied to  fully  one-half  of  the  former 
serfs. 

The  whole  scheme  was  so  radically  at 
variance  with  the  peasant's  conception  of 
"freedom"  that  he  refused  to  accept  it  as 
genuine.  It  seemed  to  him  a  huge  con- 
spiracy of  the  landed  and  office-holding  no- 
bility against  the  Czar  and  the  people.  The 
carrying  out  of  the  reform  was  naturally 
attended  with  serious  disturbances  through- 
out the  empire,  but  the  opposition  of  the 
peasants  was  crushed  by  military  force. 
Broken  in  spirit,  with  their  ideas  of  truth 
and  justice  badly  shattered,  they  were  given 
hope  in  this  hour  of  despair  by  the  teachers 
of  the  new  Christianity.  They  had  heard 
the  Bible  read  in  a  foreign,  unintelligible 
tongue  in  the  Orthodox  Church,  as  merely 
a  part  of  the  ritual.  The  Bible  read  and 
explained  to  them  by  the  Stundist  teachers 
383 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

was  a  living  truth,  full  of  meaning,  going 
to  their  own  minds  and  hearts. 

The  Stundist  movement  rapidly  spread 
among  the  peasantry,  winning  village  after 
village  from  the  Orthodox  Church.  The 
clergy  were  aroused;  poorly  paid  by  the 
state  and  burdened  with  large  families,  they 
depended  upon  the  fees  paid  by  their  pa- 
rishioners for  religious  services,  and  the  new 
religious  movement  threatened  to  deprive 
them  of  their  livelihood.  A  vigorous  cam- 
paign of  persecution  followed,  which  has 
not  been  relaxed  up  to  the  present  day. 

Persecution  by  the  government  turned 
the  attention  of  the  Stundists  to  political 
questions.  The  spread  of  education  has 
made  them  familiar  with  the  political  and 
social  ideals  current  among  the  upper 
classes.  The  work  of  Count  Tolstoi  has 
served  as  a  connecting  link  between  the 
progressive  elements  of  the  common  jK'ople 
and  the  reformers  and  radicals  of  the  "in- 
384 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN   RUSSIA 

telliguentzia,"  or  the  cultured  classes.  The 
two  million  Stundists  to-day  are  the  strong- 
est social  group  working  for  democracy  in 
Russia. 

The  Czar's  manifesto  proclaiming  the  ur- 
gent need  of  religious  tolerance  is  a  recog- 
nition of  the  recent  political  aspect  of  the 
religious  movement  among  the  common  peo- 
ple. Born  of  political  necessity,  religious 
tolerance  will,  in  conformity  with  precedent, 
extend  as  far  as  the  exigencies  of  the  situa- 
tion justify.  The  native  dissenters  will  very 
likely  be  restored  to  the  privileges  which 
were  granted  to  them  one  hundred  and 
forty-one  years  ago  by  the  ukase  of  Peter 
III.,  putting  them  on  a  footing  with  "for- 
eign denominations."  All  indications,  how- 
ever, are  to  the  effect  that  the  Czar's 
manifesto  on  "religious  tolerance"  must  be 
construed  in  the  narrow  sense  of  the  funda- 
mental Russian  laws. 

Two  acts  affecting  the  civil  rights  of  the 
385 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

Jews  have  indeed  been  passed  since  the 
promulgation  of  the  manifesto.     One  ex- 
tends the  Ghetto  to  one  hundred  and  one 
rural  settlements  from  which  the  Jews  have 
heretofore    been    excluded.      Upon    closer 
scrutiny,   however,    it   appears   that   these 
settlements  are  either  suburbs  of  cities  that 
have  expanded  far  beyond  their  corporate 
limits,  or  villages  that  have  developed  into 
industrial  towns,  though  still  retaining  their 
village  organization,  their  incorporation  be- 
ing only  a  question  of  time.    There  is,  con- 
sequently, no  abandonment  of  the  principle 
that  the  Jews  must  be  confined  to  urban 
settlements.      The    principle    has    received 
some  further  extension  through  the  suspen- 
sion of  the  law  permitting  certain  privileged 
classes  of  Jews,  such  as  university  gradu- 
ates, merchants  in  higli   standing,  etc.,  to 
acquire   farming   i)roperty   outside   of   the 
pale  of  settlement,  but  it  lias  been  discov- 
ered,  runs   tlie  edict,   that  the  Jews  have 
3S() 


RELIGIOUS    SECTS    IN    RUSSIA 

availed  themselves  of  the  privilege  to  a  con- 
siderable degree,  and  therefore  it  has  been 
deemed  wise  to  suspend  it  until  further 
notice. 


387 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


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nrc  1 7 1963 
.Mil.l   19811 


MAY  0  7 1985 


AUG 


11 


I9'i6 


IBM 

'A    NOV 


JUL  0  J 


171986 


Form  L9-76m-7,'61(C1437B4)444 


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DK 
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